TENN-Haney Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Hello all, I have a 53 Plymouth that was converted to 12v before I bought it. The conversion is a "hack job" at best and needs to be gone over...... Anyway, I have a miss in the car when I am driving it. It usually occurs when I have the engine is a pull. The cap, rotor, points and plug wires are pretty bad and I need to replace. Here are some questions I have.... 1. If I buy points, condenser, cap and rotor that are made for a 1953 Plymouth at one of the box parts stores, I am sure they will be assuming I still have a 6V system. Will these work with a 12 Volt system. 2. I was noticing that on my firewall there was a ballast resistor but it was not hooked up. I then noticed that on my (+) side of the coil I have 12V and also on my (-) side I also have 12v going to my distributor. Is this right? On all my previous cars (that were 12v from the factory) the switch feed took the 12 v thru a balast resistor, droped it to 6 volts and then when to the (+) side of the coil. Do I need to limit my volts to the coil to 6V? I checked continunity of the resistor on the firewall and it is shorted out. I have continunity and no resistance..... The car has what looks like a GM alternator installed. I have never worked on a 6v conversion so I don't know if any of this is OK or not.... Thanks for any help you can give.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Points, cap, and rotor don't care about the primary voltage, but the condensor and coil do. Get a new ballast resistor and wire it into the Pos wire to the coil. This should give you the 6 - 8 volts that the ignition system needs to survive. Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENN-Haney Posted November 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Points, cap, and rotor don't care about the primary voltage, but the condensor and coil do. Get a new ballast resistor and wire it into the Pos wire to the coil. This should give you the 6 - 8 volts that the ignition system needs to survive. Merle What condensor and coil should I use/have? What do I ask for at parts store? Thanks for the reply Mr. Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Merles answer also answers your other question about 53 parts being 6v. Yes they are 6v but you will be using the ballast resistor to feed them 6v anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james curl Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 (edited) You will have to take the part number from your distributor with you, Chrysler used two or more different distributors, the points mount on opposite sides of the plate. I would just take the cap, rotor, points and condensor with me to the parts store to compare with the new parts. I have three different distributors from short block Chrysler engines and all three are different. Edited November 10, 2009 by james curl additional info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENN-Haney Posted November 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Merles answer also answers your other question about 53 parts being 6v. Yes they are 6v but you will be using the ballast resistor to feed them 6v anyways. DUH! One should really think about things before they ask! Thanks for keeping me honest Ed. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Martin Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 If you don't use the resistor it will burn up points pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albolton Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 (edited) I had the same problem.ran great with no load, timing was perfect and rock steady, really seemed like ignition, I changed everything couldnt get it to run right..I had a guy on another forum tell me to check the base gasket on the carb and make sure it had the vacuum port slot in it...and in the right place, pulled the carb and the slot was there...but wrong, fixed that and its run perfect ever since, I never would have believed fuel because of the symptoms but that was it...might be worth a try....plus the obvious fact that your points are probably fried from not running a ballast resistor good luck Edited November 11, 2009 by albolton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENN-Haney Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 OK, here is an update..... I put in new points (left in old condenser) and set them at .020. Replaced the Rotor button but parts store did not have a cap so I left the old one in there. I also changed the plug wires with brand new tractor supply copper cores and the plugs. Put in Auto-lite 295's gaped at .035 I started the car up and set the timing to 0. I also added a balast resistor in line to the ingnition wire going to coil. I have 6-7 volts going to distributor now. The good news..... The backfire under load is now gone and when warm, you can not let off the starter key fast enough to keep it from starting! This thing starts great. The bad news..... Seems like I have a rougher idle now. Do you think it could be the condensor or the cap? Is my plug gap or points gap too wide? Should I now look at the fuel system? Thanks for all the help..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normspeed Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Point gap should be .020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TENN-Haney Posted November 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Point gap should be .020. Yes, that is what I set them at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty dan Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 OK, here is an update.....I put in new points (left in old condenser) and set them at .020. Replaced the Rotor button but parts store did not have a cap so I left the old one in there. I also changed the plug wires with brand new tractor supply copper cores and the plugs. Put in Auto-lite 295's gaped at .035 I started the car up and set the timing to 0. I also added a balast resistor in line to the ingnition wire going to coil. I have 6-7 volts going to distributor now. The good news..... The backfire under load is now gone and when warm, you can not let off the starter key fast enough to keep it from starting! This thing starts great. The bad news..... Seems like I have a rougher idle now. Do you think it could be the condensor or the cap? Is my plug gap or points gap too wide? Should I now look at the fuel system? Thanks for all the help..... I'd recheck my ignition timing if you haven't since the swap. Points probably aren't arcing as quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zsolt Puskas Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Welcome everybody . I am Zsolt Puskas from Budapest, Hungary. I work in a car museum where there are American cars mostly. www.alomautokiallitas.hu I am a technical repairman. I would ask your help : Is on my workplace one 1950 Plymouth Special (P20 engine code) . We do not know where it is necessary to bind it on this car the choke this cable? Thank you I'm sorry,but I do not speak well in English and because of that ,if I did not write it onto the suitable place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Flanagan Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 I'm sure somebody has a picture of that area on the engine. Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) If you are refering to the wire to power the choke, It is fed by the terminal on the starter solenoid (relay) that comes from the ignition switch. The same one that energizes the solenoid also energizes the choke, while the starter is engaged. This closes the choke butterfly by releasing a bi metalic spring within the housing. The housing acts as an oven on top of the exhaust manifold. When the manifold heats up the spring contracts, opening the choke by pulling on the linkage. I can not post a picture as my car has a manual choke operated by a cable. Hope this information helps. Welcome to the forum. By the way your English is fine. Participation in this forum may or may not improve your speaking and writing ability, but will likely increase your vocabulary, but not likely in a positive way. Please tell us more about the Museum you work in, from the website it look like a good sized collection. It is interesting to learn how American cars, got there, how they were used, and who may have owned them. Edited November 20, 2009 by greg g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zsolt Puskas Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Greg G, thanks to the information. I sent over your writing for my colleague.He can well in English and we look at the cable on a monday. The museum's chief a Swedish-Hungarian citizen,Karoly Farkasdi. The Sweden bought most cars and came from there with him here in a convoy. There is a car, which there is not on the web page, yet. 1957 and 1958 Cadillac Eldo Brougham,'59 Mercedes 190sl,'76 BMW 3.0cs and BMW Isetta 2door and 1door,'57 Studebaker Hawk,'58 Cadillac Eldorado Seville,'68 Vette We dismantle the cars and together,others do the polishing. We improve the components and the museum's workshop does keeping the cars in good repair. The exhibited cars close 90% starts and valiantly it is possible to travel with him. To guide really "bad" one like this daily I would like to make this work once in the united states,but this only a dream is left over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zsolt Puskas Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 And please visit the hungarian best us.cars site! www.v8cars.hu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Flanagan Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 That is a really nice collection. I was wondering myself how all those cars got there. I think you need to get a car of your own to work on. See if you can find an old Mopar over there and make it your project. There are guys on this forum from Germany, Holland, and Finland who have been able to do it. Oh yes, and tell your wife that we said it was OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-12 Tommy Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Hello Zsolt, Welcome to the best site on the WWW. Enjoy!! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Zsolt, my post was incorrect about the chokes operation. There is actually a electromagnetic switch that closes the choke. Here is a link to an earlier thread on the chokes and their operation. So the choke will need to have a clean and tight ground (earth) to work correctly. There is also some information about adjusting the choke correctly. http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=1050 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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