Ok,
Here is the deal. My 59 Bugeye is on stands and has been for a good month.
I start it off and on and it runs fine - the motor really "pops" as they say.
I added an electric fan and did all the hookups and everything went fine
including the neat little switch under the dash which can be used to manually
turn
the fan on in hot weather.
The car sat for a about a week. I went out to start it today and no go. It
will kick over one turn once in a while while I crank, and that is about it.
And the little bit of life that it does offer is by way of a bit of carb
cleaner squirted into the SU's.
I checked the spark by pulling a plug out and it sparked against a ground
point. Although for some reason it appeared to me that the spark might be kind
of weak. The spark would not cross the gap on the plug - but would cross a
small gap between the plug itself and a vise grip wrench that I grounded to the
copper heater line running over the carbs.
I noticed that the hot wire from the battery to the solenoid had a crack in
the tubular housing that sits just before the terminal ring. And, while I was
trying to start the car the solenoid began to get hot which I attribute to the
resistance (or lack thereof) created by the crack that I mentioned. I
finally cooked the solenoid. So off for another solenoid tomorrow. Not a big
deal
as the car was retrofitted years ago with an early Ford 1960's type.
So - I think that the solenoid got hot due to many starting attempts and the
bad wire leading up to it from the pos side of the battery?
The electric fuel pump is one of those small box types that looks like a
small power transformer out of a guitar amp. Although it is elderly, it does
come
on and appears to be working. Again this engine would run fine when I would
start it once in a while.
Any ideas from the list?
Thanks - Kirk
|