Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Trying to start it for the first time (in 15 years

He's stated it was changed in post 704387 Richard.
They don't appear to last as long as they used to nowadays!

Thanks - yes, I got hold of a temporary (second hand) capacitor to rule that out but having trouble identifying the make and model capacitor that I need.

The wiring (12v) from the coil to distributor looks like it could be responsible for some of the iffyness - I'm trying to figure out which gauge I should use . I can find sites which indicate how to find the gauge but they all seem to be destructive - ie measure the diameter of a strand and multiply by the number of strands - but I was wondering if there is a look-up table . ie 16 gauge from capacitor to distributor etc.

Take a photo of the dizzy with cap on and off - it should either be a Lucas, FoMoCo or Bosch.

I wouldn't get too hung up on wire gauge - I'd use anything. There is a discussion here where they suggest16ga

I found this response from another forum

Awright, that'll be enuff. You guys are makin' my brane hurt. :jester:

12/18/16GA... WHATEVER. It's a trigger wire. For a forty year old English lump with POINTS. Paperclips on each end of a piece of LAMPCORD would get ya home! :devilgrin:

*sheesh*

I'm assuming (there I go again) , that it's applicable here too

Thanks again to everyone for their input and encouragement . Can't believe how much fun I'm having and it hasn't moved an inch yet

This is the FoMoCo dizzy -

Just my personal thing ..... but if I'm replacing a wire on an old car I always go thicker .... less voltage drop, mechanically more robust.... and old wiring was often marginal (and the source of many 'old car woes')

Unless you're obsessive about originality or a top end racer trying to save every gramme it just makes sense to me 🙂

In your boots I'd jury rig a decent bit of wire from the distributor to the coil ...confirm a decent spark .... and once you got it running, go back and do a permanent job at your leisure.

K

This is the Lucas45D

Have a close look at the point where the springy bit of the points is attached to the dizzy. (where it is connected to the incoming 12v wire from the coil. ) There is usually an insulating piece/washer which slips over the terminal post. This may have deteriorated or possibly got displaced when you changed the condenser and could be intermittently shorting to earth.

If you have a Lucas dizzy with a vacuum advance then as best I can remember, another possible issue may be the very thin,usually green braid insulated flex that ensures the continuity from the top movable plate on which the points are fixed to the fixed plate that that is screwed to the body of the dizzy... This flex can break internally making for an intermittent sparks. While you are in there if you remove the rotor arm and put a drop of oil on to the centre of the cam lobe to lubricate the shaft on which the bob weights and springs mounted below operate the centrifugal advance mechanism.... That mechanism may well be seized, though would not be a cause of intermittent sparks but could affect how well it might run on the road... Rather than complicate matters further a this stage with ideas on how to free the mechanism off (if seized) , a drop of light oil might help a bit at this stage of the game.

Also hope you have fresh fuel available at the carb, and have replaced/cleaned any fuel filtration in the system..? A spray can of Easy Start or similar might help the initial fire up process, if used sparingly.

Good luck

Hi Luddite,

Thanks for the suggestion - I have a FoMoCo dizzy so I don't think it's applicable in this case.

I have new points on the way as well as a new ground lead - if that's what it's called (the green and black one in TBM's photo)

Tried Easy Start and confirmed that fuel is reaching the carb but a consistent spark still seems to be the main issue; I've tested the condenser and it seems to work.

If the next set of things don't work - including following Deejay's suggestion I'm tempted to either try with a completely new distributor or an Pertronix - as I've replaced everything else at this point - and tried the Easy Start too . I'm optimistic and still having fun as is my 80 year old father-in-law who has been working on cars since the 50's