Newbie Questions on 1919 Touring

[72caddy]

Hello, in my quest to get this car back on the road I have had many challenges. The car split the muffler open like a clam after I fired it up to test the fuel system (bad flares on the lines). So I got it idling even though it was hitting on two cylinders. In checking the distributor wiring it seems the original owner had a couple of wires crossed - which I think caused the back-fire and the demise of the muffler. Could someone confirm for me as I have no had much luck in seeing any offical diagram in the 'Book of Info', 'Mechanics Guide' or any newletter. I am only going by some of the B&W images from the above documents.

These positions are approx so just bear with me. The position of the wire on the distributor will be followed by the cylinder number the wire leads to:

5 o'click wire - #1 cylinder

1 o'clock wire - #2 cylinder

11 o'clock wire - #4 cylinder

9 o'clock wire - #3 cylinder

Originally my car had the #3 and #4 distributor wires switched.

While I am posting, I also think I have a weak spark. After replacing the wires the spark only jumps about 1/4" from the wire tip to the plug when running and the car 'stumbles' or 'misses' when I give it some gas. Points are set at .20 and it does have a modern condensor by the distributor (not inside). So I will replace the condensor next then move back to the coil (original) if the condensor is not the culprit.

Any confirmation, advice, or further things to check is much appreciated as this is my first 'really old' car.

BTW, Champion W18 plugs are now called Champion 518. AC Delco makes a plug AC-Z or AC-78-S that will work as well. The Champions can be found at ACE Hardware. Distributor wires with COPPER cores (not carbon; as carbon cores are not recommended according to a old newletter I read) can be found at any auto parts store (ACCEL High Performance).

Thanks in advance

[Jim Anselmo]

Does this help? Just happened to find it on the web...

[Jim Anselmo]

One more of a 1918....

[72caddy]

Excellent! Both images confirm my conclusion. Don't know why I didn't think of that (google).

In trying to straighten out the throttle linkage I did goggle some images and got some help but nothing really definitive. i am mainly looking for a good picture of how the throttle return spring is mounted/fastened. Anyone have a good picture of that?

Now I need to order some 1977 Colt condensors and see if that gets rid of the spark issue. Are there any other alternatives? - I only have the discount parts stores in town and everyone has to order these.

[nearchoclatetown]

Most of my 4 cylinder distributor caps have the number cast right on the cap. My neighbor's '27 has a VW Beetle condensor in it and runs just fine, I'm not sure it really matters what the condensor is from. But you are right the recommended condensor is from a Colt. You do realise you can adjust the timing by sloosening the screw under the rotor and turning the cam, right? The book says .030 for the spark plug gap for a distributor. The point gap is .020.

[nearchoclatetown]

72Caddy, if you look at the pics on the Australian body thread you can see the numbers I was referring to on the cap.

[72caddy]

Was not aware of the adjusting the timing from under the cap - so I will do this next. My cap did not have any numbers (repro?) The points are set correctly at .020

Thanks for all the help. Gotta love forums!

[Guest imouttahere]

There was a good article in the DB News some time back about how to set the timing. The upshot of the article was:

1. Since the distributor rotor turns clockwise, you move it counter-clockwise to advance the timing and clockwise to retard it.

2. You should adjust the contact end of the rotor in 1/8" to 1/16" increments, and then start the motor to check how it runs.

3. The problem is, there is no timing mark, so how do you know when you've got it right? The trick is to keep advancing it until it starts to run worse when you move the advance lever to the top, and then back the rotor off just a tiny bit until it still runs well with the lever at the top. If the timing is too retarded, the engine will overheat when idling.