82AModelA

So I found my problem. I took a minute and opened up the distributor and checked for side play in the shaft. I found pretty significant play-so much that it would change the point gap by over ten thousandths, so thats not good I'm pretty sure. So I'm going to rebuild my distributor. I'll be rewatching some Paul Shinn videos

So the standard capacitance for the original set up - that is original style condensor mounted inside the distributor with the original style points I believe is between 0.20-0.25 microFarads according to Ford, again, that was the setup they had in 1929. For the V8 system...I don't know. I glanced over some articles talking about matching condensors and points, but I felt that was too much info for me. What I do know is the V8 setup is supposed to work and it is a recommended conversion. I'm just operating under the assumption that the condensor and points I am getting are correct for the intended use as I reasonably trust the parts supplier. I'm actually curious to try running without the condensor just to see what happens. I never really considered what its function was...I just knew it was supposed to have one. I agree with your idea, so long as the point gap is consistent, the engine should fire all of the time for the life of the points.

I've wanted to replace my shaft with a drilled one, so this may be the time. I haven't went that deep into the distributor in hopes that a simple tune up or fixing a broken wire would be the solution. I'll probably look at my distributor before I go any deeper down the condensor rabbit hole.

Yes I have. I'm running with the modern V8 condensor and points. I've tried three different new condensors and swapped between two new sets of points. Everything came from the same source and I know theres such a thing as bad parts, but its hard for me to believe I would get three bad condensors in a row. I also considered the coil being bad and I changed it - still no difference.

1929 Model A Ford I am in desperate search of a Model A expert... I have a '29 Model A with an issue I can't seem to fix. I need someone more familiar with A's, as I am not - this is the only one I have ever worked with. When the engine is running, it will periodically start running rough - the keyword here is "periodically". I have a clear cap on the distributor and can observe that, during this event of running rough, it is not firing consistently. Also, if it happens to die during this event, it is flooded. However, it is not always running rough. It will usually alternate between running rough for about ten seconds and it will come back around and run perfectly normal. When it is running correctly, it will accelerate perfectly fine and idle fine. In the rough condition, it will struggle to accelerate, and I can make it backfire like a rifle if I get really aggressive with it. The event seems random to me. I cannot cause the event and I cannot make it come out of it. To keep it short, I will say that I have eliminated fuel flow to the carburetor as the problem. I also believe the wiring harness is in order according to the test in the Les Andrews book. Any help is much appreciated. I'm hoping someone might can point out something I'm overlooking. Like I said, I'm not a Model A expert.