Not getting spark

[Guest]

So I went to start up the thunderbird and she wouldnt start. I pulled out the volt meter and used the leeds and found out that the coil wasnt putting out 12V but 6V and when i pulled the plug wire off of it and had my buddy turn the key I didnt see any spark come out. I replaced the coil and im still not getting any spark to the distributor. Any idea of whats going on? The stater relay is also brand new as well as the points and components in the distributor.

[Alexander]

Do the points have a gap? If they are closed all the time, there will be no spark.

[Guest]

Check to make sure the wire going through the distributor to the points is not grounded and shorting out.

[LuckyJay]

Or that the condenser s not shorted!

[Guest]

where is the coil resistor? I have a black and white colored wire comming from the firewall to the + side of the coil adn then the negative to the distributor but when I went in to the junk yard to look at another thunderbird I saw what looked like a regular plug wire comming out that had two leeds? I was told this was the resistor but I dont see one on my engine. Would I be able to just put in a ballast resistor?

[Alexander]

The last year that a ballast resistor was used on the Thunderbirds was 1959. From 1960 onward, they used a resistor wire. The wire is on the firewall side. In 1960 it was pink. I am not sure what color it was in 1963.

[Guest]

Okay, im getting spark now but the battery seems really weak and I cant get the engine to fire and then the battery goes dead. The engine wants to start but im hoping it wont because of the weak battery. Do you think the starter may be bad or going out? If not has anyone upgraded their battery to like a optima or something else with a higher cranking power?

[Alexander]

My two year old antique reproduction battery went bad on me this past week. The starter cranked slowly and irregularly. I put a new modern group 27F battery from NAPA in. Believe it or not, some current Chrysler vehicles use that same size battery. With the new battery, the car started in seconds. The old battery looked nice, but it was more trouble than it is worth.

1961-63 also uses the same size batteries as the 1958-60, Group 29NF or 27F. The 27F is easy to get with a good amount of cranking amps since it is still a current modern size. Hard to believe this size is still current after 50 years.



My old Power Punch Group 27F Battery - It was a short-lived beauty.

[Guest]

Wow I had no idea. Thanks I thought about getting a new reproduction battery of the original style but wasnt sure if they were as good as todays "high cranking" technology. I'll look into a new battery and hope thats all the problem is now. My thunderbird sits so low to the ground thats its a pain to get underneath if you dont have the luxury of a hydrolic lift.