DrBob67

Here is my project 67 289 coupe that has been sitting for a few years. Here's what I did so far, vavle job, new edelbrock manifold and 4 barrel carb, pertronixs electronic ignition. Got everything put back on today with fresh oil, drained gas tank and put in new gas, fresh coolant. Turned the engine over with the spark plugs out to circulate some oil and pump some gas into the carb. I have a new inline fuel filter with a clear housing so I can see that there is some gas getting to the filter.

After I put the plugs back in I tried to start her up and no go. The engine turns fine but won't fire up. WHen I had the old 2 barrel carb I remember that when I pushed on the acclerator linkage I could see gas pumping in the carb. I did not see any in the new carb when I moved the accelerator linkagge. Perhaps I have not yet filled the carb with gas.

I had a feeling that I was not getting any spark so I tried a few things. I pulled one of the plugs and put the ignition wire back onto the plug. When I cranked the engine with a remote starter I did not see any spark at the spark plug gap. I also remember checking for spark off the line between the distributor and the coil. I forget though If you pull the wire from the distributor end or from the coil end to check for spark. Either way when I held either end of the wire close to the block I did not see any spark. I'm not sure if this is the correct way to check for spark but I remember doing stuff like this in the past and seeing spark.

When I put in the pertronixs kit I followed the procedure using the plastic feeler guage to set the "gap". and connected the red and black wires to the ingnition coil. WHen I reinstalled the DIstributor I put the engine at TDC and lined up the rotor with the #1 cylinder ingintion wire on the rotor cap.

I suppose I can replace the ignition wires, rotor and distributor cap but I wanted to see if the car would start first. Is there a way to test the ignition coil to see if it needs to be replaced?

There are only 3 things that are attached to the coil are the two wires from the pertronix ignition + and - and one wire with a fitting that slides on the bolt one of the terminals I think it was the + side of the coil it goes to a water temp sensor on the manifold and continues towards a connection at the firewall.

Then must be something that I'm missing. I'm the Forum can give me some ideas what to do next.

I'm anxious to get the old gal started again.

Thanks in advance for your attention.

Bob Johnson
67 coupe
San Diego, CA

Clu7ch

don't know alot about ingition at this point, but in response to your comment about the carb, did you manually prime the carb or just hook it up and go for it? you said you saw no gas injecting into the carb when you hit the accellorator so it's very plausable that you have not completely filled the carb, but you said you could find no spark so i'd check thru that before you make yourself crazy over the gas. good luck

ideal_mustangs

Check with a meter to see if you are getting power to the coil.

6mustang6

you should move the pertronix red wire to the ignition switch. you may not have enough power going to the pertronix to activate it.

mustanglover66

Your problem is in the pertronixs electronic ignition I tryed that years ago had the same problem I threw the pertronixs in the trash and got changed to MSD which has been great always startes with almost no effort and has never skiped a beat.

Soaring

There are two ways to hook up the pertronix. You can follow the directions given with the unit, or you can assure 12 volts to it by running the red wire directly to the key ignition. Try the red wire to the + side of the coil along with the resistor wire from the ignition, and the black wire to the - side of the coil to inside the dizzy for the ground to dizzy connection. If that doesn't get you the spark you need, then try the other way.
Now, this is assuming you have a strong battery, all cables and wires are clean at the connections, a good solenoid (starter relay) and your ignition switch is in good working order.
Also, make sure your dizzy is in correctly. The #1 plug wire on the dizzy should be at 1 O'clock. Make sure the #1 piston (front cylinder on passenger's side) is all the way up. by using a socket, turn the engine on the balancer until the "O" aligns with the 2nd mark to the right of the "O".

DrBob67

Thanks for the responses I'm glad I found the classic mustang forum.

Here is more info Battery is brand new from interstate, connection cables are relatively new and I cleaned the terminals. Solenoid is also new, as far as ingnition switch I assume that is the unit that the key goes into to start the car I believe it is fine, It is a universal replacement that I put in after some A-hole stole the car and screwed up the original, It is the same one that was in the car when it was last running.

I went through the procedure for getting the engine to TDC before I put the heads on I used a socket to turn the engine untill I could see #1 piston all the way up. Also after putting on the heads, as mentioned in the ford small block rebuild book I checked the push rod for tension to make sure it was not 180 deg off. The distributor rotor lined up in the 1 o'clock postion to line up with the #1 piston wire.

I will try changing the pertronixs connections.

I just have a few questions. What is the best way to check if I'm getting spark, I'm thinking pulling a spark plug attaching the ignition wire to it and watching for spark while I crank the engine with the remote starter, can anyone confirm this or is there a better way?

Also to check if I'm getting power to the coil where do I connect the meter, I assume one contact from the meter on the + side and then the other contact on any ground, and the ignition key would be turned to the on position. I have one of the basic continuity checking units It looks like a screwdriver with a little light in the clear handle, I assume that would do the trick.

Thanks again for the input.

Bob Johnson
67 coupe
San Diego, CA

Riven02

To check for spark just pull the boot off of the spark plug and stick a small screwdriver in to the boot. Then holding the cable by the boot not the screwdriver place the screwdriver next (within a 1/16 of an inch or so) to some metal of the car. Then crank on the car and look for spark.


The basic volatge tester you have will tell you if you have some fire to the coil. However, if it were me I would want to know exacly what voltage I was getting to the coil.

Quartzman

Here's potentially dumb question:

The alternator on these years are 2 wire -- what about the starter? Is it grounded through the engine or via a second line? I can't recall from the tear down... In any case, I'd check that the engine ground strap is on tight - could be easy to overlook that during a reassembly... but a moot point if the starter is one wire (since that implies the ground is good.)

Quartzman

Nevermind - I looked up the wiring... your ground is fine cause the starter is a one wire setup.