60ESL70D Distributor problem ?

[flareds]

Hi, I'm new to the board. I lurk around sometimes. There seems to be a few sharp tools in here.
If i may be so bold, i have a problem.
As stated in the title, this is a 60ESL70D 1970 elect shift. 3 cyl
original problem when it was brought to me was smoke & flame coming from just under the terminal strip. Inspection found the red lead to rectifyer had likely shorted/rubbed against and behind the Clipper. rectifyer wires were smoked so replaced it with new. also replaced terminal strip due to the fact that the screw heads were breaking off with very little effort. (heat i presume).
Motor runs on 2 and 3 only and i get NO spark on #1
After a thorough inspection of points, distributor, rotor, anti rev spring, stator and found nothing obvious, i replaced the stator, distributor and rotor. still NO spark on #1 (thank goodness for this guy i know that never throws anything away) ! anyways....
while using a timing light on #1 it does fire very briefly (on occasions) and of cource when it does #1 cyl lights up and motor speed attempts to pick up.
I soppose it IS POSSIBLE that i just happened to have replaced the distributor with another bad one but, in my experience, thats usually not the case especially when you have the EXACT same symptoms.
these distibutors and rotors look pretty durable to me really. Oh, BTW, i have the proper wire schematic for this motor and checked it very closely, no problems found. Motor is really actually rather clean for 41 years old !

Has any one encountered this problem or, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions ?

 

[F_R]

Re: 60ESL70D Distributor problem ?

Test that #1 wire for continuity and check it for arcing out to ground at the distributor tower. It IS a copper wire---isn't it?

Are you using L77JC4 or QL77JC4 plugs? You should be. Those distributors always were a weak link and usually won't fire surface gap plugs reliably. I honestly think that is why there are still so many of those motors around--nobody could make them run. But they will run with the right plugs.

 

[flareds]

Re: 60ESL70D Distributor problem ?

yes, i have l77jc4 plugs in it. i've changed and checked the wire/wires as well. took me a bit to figure out they screwed into the distributor !
hmmmmm, there is one other thing i have not tried, i could run this motor at night. maybe get lucky and see spark going somewhere on the outside. if its on the inside, oh well.
Its almost as if the coil is not firing at that time, or at the RIGHT time. if that were the case though, there would be issues with #2-3 as well. they perform perfectly. I know that spark will travel a path of least resistance so, IF the coil IS firing when called upon for #1, where IS it going ?
If i could just get this thing sparking right, this thing would run great, it already runs surprisingly well in the tank just on two cyl's. At idle.
also, im going to try and set the flywheel on each cyl, phisically make the coil fire on each one and examine the results at each wire end with spark tester.

one other thing im confused as to why there are two sets of points/breakers.?

 

[flareds]

Re: 60ESL70D Distributor problem ?

well, F R.....
I stand TOTALLY corrected. after closer inspection, i found the problem WAS in those crappy wires after all.
Now all i need to do is cram a good sheilded, tinned copper wire, number 6 should do into that pos distributor ! if only i can find a way to attach it to the plugs and im in business. lol
funny thing is, i checked AND swapped those wires twice !
After fixing that problem, it will jump pretty blue spark 5/16" at each plug wire end.

Thank you for the reminder, sometimes its hard to see the forest 4 the trees !

 

[F_R]

Re: 60ESL70D Distributor problem ?

#6 wire?? Wow.