Re: Help or I'm gonna sink my boat!
If you rule out fuel starvation, I have one more occult (ya like that word?) problem suggestion. Gonna reach way back and try to pull a rabbit out of a hat with this one, so bear with me.<br /><br />Inside your distributor, you'll find your breaker points. The wire that connects them to the coil is required to flex inside the distributor each time the breaker plate advances and returns. Over a period of years (30 in your case), this wire ("pigtail") can fatigue and break. The problem is that the fracture occurs inside the pigtail insulation, and is not visible (occult). It causes an intermittent failure mode that can drive ya nutz. Sometimes it'll run fine. Others, it will only run at low RPM's, until the breaker plate starts to advance, and tugs on it.<br /><br />Check for continuity across this wire with your VOM or test light. If it's good, deflect the pigtail with moderate pressure using a screwdriver, and see if the circuit breaks. If it does, replace the wire. Sometimes there's enough wire that you can pull some thru the distributor grommet, and solder on a new terminal end. If you replace it, use the correct wire. Normal copper wire won't stand up to the fatigue for any length of time at all.<br /><br />It's a longshot, but take a look, before you sink 'er.
If you rule out fuel starvation, I have one more occult (ya like that word?) problem suggestion. Gonna reach way back and try to pull a rabbit out of a hat with this one, so bear with me.<br /><br />Inside your distributor, you'll find your breaker points. The wire that connects them to the coil is required to flex inside the distributor each time the breaker plate advances and returns. Over a period of years (30 in your case), this wire ("pigtail") can fatigue and break. The problem is that the fracture occurs inside the pigtail insulation, and is not visible (occult). It causes an intermittent failure mode that can drive ya nutz. Sometimes it'll run fine. Others, it will only run at low RPM's, until the breaker plate starts to advance, and tugs on it.<br /><br />Check for continuity across this wire with your VOM or test light. If it's good, deflect the pigtail with moderate pressure using a screwdriver, and see if the circuit breaks. If it does, replace the wire. Sometimes there's enough wire that you can pull some thru the distributor grommet, and solder on a new terminal end. If you replace it, use the correct wire. Normal copper wire won't stand up to the fatigue for any length of time at all.<br /><br />It's a longshot, but take a look, before you sink 'er.
