Why is it always weird stuff that breaks?
 

Maybe it's just me but when one of my vehicles craps out it's always something strange. Like the time a flexible fuel line weakened and sucked shut when driving but idled fine. Or a set of points disintegrating into graphite dust.

Latest example? My carrier was getting harder and harder to start. So new plugs, wires, checking connections, timing...the works. I take the coil off the top of the distributer and see a crack in the bottom of the condenser leaking green goo. Not sure what the goo is (I didn't lick it) and also not sure if the condenser failing caused the crack or the crack caused the condenser to fail. Either way, more cash out the door to Macs for a new one.

Condenser
 

A friend of mine was having a hard time with his 1940 Ford sedan. It ran like crap misfiring once in a while and hard starting. The car had new points/condenser/coil and plug wires a year ago and maybe 100 miles or less. He had a box of old test equipment and found an old condenser tester. The new condenser on the car failed on the tester as did three other new ones that he had. We dug through a box of old stuff and found a used Ford brand condenser that was probably forty years old and it passed on the tester and the car now runs great. I don’t know where these new condensers are made but I don’t think that the quality control is good at all.

When I used to to play with Ford flatheads, the number one reason I always found toe running crappy was always due to coils, condensors, etc

Interesting, the condenser that failed is WW2 vintage. It came on a NOS complete distributer. What I discovered is the WW2 coils used some kind of tar on the inside of the coil that wrecked them over time. So bright and new on the outside and non-working on the inside.

This whole episode is making me look more closely at one of those adapter plates that allows you to run a regular coil.

Be wary of the black goo…
There’s a good chance it contains PCB.
Similar to old lighting ballasts etc, dispose of properly.

Oh great. Radio active dials, lead paint, asbestos and now PCBs. I did say I didn't lick it...

Funny you had condenser trouble. I just did the other week with my cmp truck. Thankfully I was only dead in the driveway. It had been running rough before hand though. Anyway I did some searching on the vintage chevy forums and found a guy…..he was frustrated with the way modern condensers are crap so he found a different product to replace them. Hey are made to fit inside the Chevy distributor. However they would work just fine for the flathead as well. I bought 3 from him and they arrived the other day. I installed one in the cmp and what a difference. Lots of power and a very smooth running engine. I took the truck for a drive and was easily cruising along at 40 mph.

Anyway here is his contact information.
Jon Goodman
jon_goodman@yahoo.com

He sells them for $12 USD each plus shipping. My 3 came to $46USD.

Here is a bit of further reading on his product
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/...er-option.html

Pertronix 1286LS (available in 6v or 12v, pos or neg earth) for the Diver's Helmet Dizzy. Keep the stock Coil, lose the Condensor.

I spent a bit of time on the Ford Barn Forum and I learned:
1.That a lot of people are having trouble with modern condensers.
2. That many Ford coils fail, even NOS ones, because the insulation breaks down. (they often work until they get hot)
3 that modern contact sets (points) fail due to the springs.
4. A bloke called Skip Haney (famous on Fordbarn for rebuilding water pumps) also rebuilds the Ford coils.
5. A lot of other useful stuff that Chev guys wouldn't understand. :devil: (I'm not really deep into this brand war)
6. That our Forum is a gem of good manners and friendly to all. :salute:

Some of the above swayed me into the Petronix set up for which I have no regrets about. All you need is a reasonable condition dizzy and the cam doesn't need to be perfect. The module just senses off of the lobe- nothing touches it. You do need the advance system to be in good nick.
I have a Crab dizzy in which the new base plate incorporates the front bearing (a plus!)
As Tony points out, there is no Condenser in the system. Two wires come out of the module (dizzy) and both go to opposite sides of the coil.
Sadly Petronix don't know me, and I don't get anything for the promo, however some of my friends will have a more satisfying trouble free Ford.

Thanks Lynn. I'm a little bipolar having a Chev and a Ford and honestly understand (and can fix) the Chev much easier. Modern knock-off replacement parts are a worry and make those modern work-arounds that much easier to accept. MV people are a small subset of antique car owners. Are they dealing with the same problems?

95% of Ford flathead ignition problems usually come down to bad coils.
At least, that was always my experience and that of countless other flatly enthusiasts.
The usually scenario involves a vehicle which starts and runs great until it starts misfiring or otherwise running like a POS.
I’ve had guys argue with me black was white when I offered up the suggestion that the coil was to blame.
Doesn’t matter whether or not it is NOS, old or modern replacement. Once cooks get hot ignition will break down if it is compromised.
The worst ones are the divers helmet first series, as they sit right on the dizzy where it’s hot to start with.
I always changed over any ford flatty to the crab type to get the coil up and out of the way to keep it cool

Here is the new made condenser and how it fits into the distributor.

So Jordan, as it is not round, it is unlikely to contain rolled up tin foil and wax paper. By what means does it achieve its necessary characteristics? (capacitance)
The capacitance (measured in microfarads) is important. Being not enough, or too much, will cause the transfer of material one way or the other at the contacts, markedly shortening the life of the contact set. British Fords around the 1970s used to have the mfds painted or stamped on the condenser body (eg. 7 mfd, 8 mfd) I think I have owned flathead v8 condensers similarly marked.

Lynn

This thread talks about them at length

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads...Number/1388813

I’ve always stayed away from NOS or old ignition capacitors. They don’t age well. The electrolyte evaporates. They may work when cool, but the value changes when they heat up. Then your left stranded some distance from home. I’ve known more than one person on MV forums who had a “wont run when hot” problem that spent thousands chasing down vapor lock, replacing carbs, fuel lines, fuel pumps, and fuel tanks when the problem was a $5 condenser. I’ve always told people to buy a new condenser, but now that’s not the solution either. BTW. The electronic replacement module has capacitors. Maybe hundreds of them. You just can’t see them.