Joe Flanagan

Well, I'm glad the experience could help someone, Ed. Glad to hear you got it straightened out. Merle, the first part you link to might work but I don't think the second one would. There is so little space inside that distributor that the terminals on the NAPA wire interfere with the other parts in there. Whether the first one would work depends on the size of the terminals at either end. Also, the wire is too long to work, or at least it was in my case, so I had to cut it to length. But it is just the right thickness to flex as the breaker plate moves. I couldn't find any other wire that was thin enough. The wire I used originally was too thick and eventually broke. I used the smallest ring terminals I could find and they worked fine. As I mentioned, the part comes five to a box (costs about 4 bucks). I was thinking of making up a couple of extras and keeping them in my glove box in case of emergency. By the way, on Saturday I drove the car 30 miles and didn't have any trouble at all.

Greg, I was just looking at the route that takes you through Delaware Water Gap and I think it's the better of the two. There seems to be less switching from road to road and it looks like nice countryside. 320 miles is daunting but I imagine the Plymouth can do it. I'm looking forward to it.

I just checked out the route according to Google Maps. Using the "avoid highways" option, it's 317 miles from Alexandria, VA to Hyde Park, NY. Eight hours of driving but it looks like some very nice country and long stretches of rural roads. My wife is interested in going, which surprised the heck out of me. So if nothing changes, we'll be making the trip north in August.

OK. That would be one heck of a shake down cruise for my '49.

Ed I ordered the wire from NAPA. They come five to a package. They didn't have the right kind of terminals on them but the wire is very thin and flexible. I cut a couple of them to length and put small ring terminals on them. I checked their movement while moving the breaker plate and the look good. Greg, what is the HV?

I replaced both broken wires and the missing clip and the car now runs great. Very smooth acceleration. I was going to take it on a long trip tomorrow but I think I'll hold off and just stick to local errands until I'm sure everything's good.

Yeah, I noticed that. There are actually two broken wires in my distributor, the one from the breaker plate to the base and the one from the points to the distributor terminal.

I agree. It wasn't the best replacement for the original wire. It looks like the NAPA replacement is identical to the original. I'm picking it up today.

There was more going on inside my distributor than I thought. It has two small lead wires and both were broken. Also, the c-clip that keeps the vacuum advance arm on its pivot post was missing and every time it moved, the arm rode up the post and made a clicking noise when it hit the recessed area where the c-clip is supposed to go. That was the sound I was hearing. The vacuum advance mechanism was still attached to the post but only by luck. Here's one of the two broken wires: Here's the vacuum advance arm and the post that was missing its c-clip:

I'll have the new wire in a couple of days and I'll let you know what happens.

Thank you, Ed, for that link. I expect to be back on the road soon.

I pulled off the distributor and found that the small wire inside was broken. Looks like that was my problem. Also, when I move the breaker plates by hand, there is some resistance and a weird clicking noise, as if there is some obstruction there. I will disassemble tomorrow and investigate further. Anyone know of a source for that tiny wire inside the distributor? I used the smallest gauge insulated wire I could find and crimped and soldered ring terminals at either end. I had no trouble with it until now. I think the constant flexing caused the wire to break at the soldered connection.

I managed to run the engine with fuel straight from a container to the carb, cutting out the fuel pump and everything upstream of it. The problem is still there, so either there is something in the carb that I have not discovered yet or this is one of those fuel problems that turns out to be electrical. Next step is to remove the distributor and have a look at it. I did spray carb cleaner around the base of the carburetor while the engine was running and it didn't change anything. I haven't checked the intake manifold or any other possible sources of a vacuum leak but I will be doing that soon as well. Also, I wanted to mention that I have not yet tried Jersey Harold's suggestion but will do that too.

OK let me try that. I eliminated the vacuum advance as a suspect by the way.

The carb itself (or siphon action) will pull the fuel in?

I'm trying to rig up a gravity-fed fuel supply straight to the carburetor, cutting out the fuel pump. I have a fitting with a hose barb threaded into the carb but coming up with a leak-proof container with a fitting for the hose has me stumped at the moment. Has anyone done this before?

Thank you, guys, for all that. Regarding the accelerator pump, what Lloyd says is how I understand its function also. Watching it work, it is just that short burst of gasoline while the pedal is traveling downward. The pump on this carb seems to fit the bore snugly and works fine. Lloyd, I will do the checks you mention: wet plugs, rich exhaust, etc. I'll also do a check of the vacuum advance and see if it's leaking. I also thought it would be interesting to follow some advice that was given earlier and rig up a gravity fed fuel supply just to take the fuel pump out of the equation and see what happens. I'll also check for vacuum leaks.

Hmm. That's interesting. I don't think my gauge has that function but I'll have a look. It's been a long time since I've used it. Thanks for the picture.

Right, my car does this simply when revving the engine. I pulled the carburetor off again and double checked everything. Float level is where it's supposed to be. The balls are in place, passages are all clear (as far as I can tell, and I blew air through every one I could find). I also pulled out the accelerator pump and flared out the leather sleeve at the end of the piston. I'm going to have to figure out a way to spray oil on the throttle shaft while revving the engine so I can do the test Don recommends. I can't really drip it on because of the location. In the absence of oil, I sprayed carb cleaner around the throttle shaft and it didn't make a difference. Tried another solvent that looked a little thicker than carb cleaner but that didn't make a difference either. Given the symptoms, what's the best way to check the fuel pump? Just seeing how much gas it delivers while cranking the engine won't really give me an answer, will it?

Yes, float level is good and the check balls seem to be where they're supposed to be. I'll check the fuel pump next.

This morning i removed the carburetor and examined it. The accelerator pump works fine and squirts a healthy amount of gas when it's depressed. Everything else looks good, too. I removed the step up jet and checked it out. It looks fine. There is no debris on the needle/seat. I took a can of compressed air and blew out all the passages thoroughly, reassembled the carb and put it back on. No change. I have verified that the accelerator pump shoots gas down the throat of the carb and with the throttle open, gas flows out of the two jets in the tube that goes across the top. Everything else looks good. I've confirmed that the line to the vacuum advance is tight. I pulled off the distributor cap and took a look inside but didn't see anything out of order. When I move the breaker plates, though, there is a clicking sound and I'm not sure that's normal.

This carb was rebuilt some years ago and it hasn't been run very much. I've got 2,000 trouble free miles out of it so far.

Will likely do this on Saturday. I'll report back with whatever I find. Thanks for the responses.

Hello everyone, I've been away from the forum for a long time, mostly because my Plymouth is done and I didn't drive it at all over the winter because our weather was so bad and there was salt on the roads for months and months. But I've been back on the road for the last few weeks and I've developed a problem: The engine idles perfectly but when I accelerate, it surges. For example, if you open the throttle half way, the engine will accelerate and fade, accelerate and fade repeatedly. It does this in a perfect rhythm, like it's surging. It sounds to me like a carburetor problem, like maybe something wrong with the jet/plunger that allows you to accelerate. I will be pulling the air cleaner and examining the carb this weekend but I just wanted to check in quickly and see if anyone's had this problem and can point me to something specific. I'm going to watch for the stream of fuel down the throat of the carb when I accelerate as a first test. Like I said, it idles perfectly, but accelerating produces a surge that goes in a very regular cycle.

Thank you, Chet. I would really enjoy all of us getting together. Glad to hear you got your car out and that the heater works. Mine also works surprisingly well considering that it was crushed and I was never really able to bring it back to it's original dimensions. In spite of that though, it still delivers enough warm air to keep the interior comfortable. Jason, I live very close to Old Town near the Braddock Rd. station. I'd love to see your car so any time you want to visit just drop me a line. If you need to do any tinkering or whatever we can do it at my place.