'54 Chevy truck - No Spark!

[Guest]

Sorry to muddle the board with another of my problems! Recently picked up a 54 Chev 3100 truck with the orig 6cyl. It looks like the previous owner did a "half-ass" 6 to 12 volt conversion and gave up. He has a 12v battery, coil, points, condenser, and ignition. Looks like it still has the original 6v generator, cap & rotor and wiring. Not getting a spark when I try to start her. Will I need to change anything else over to get a spark (ballast resistor, voltage regulator, etc). Don't wan't to do more damage than necessary! Thanks in advance!

[Guest]

Convert it back to 6 volt. That makes it original and 6 volt is more than adequate. I have driven my 6 volt car winter and summer for over 42 years (it was 29 yrs old when I started) and have never had any problem except poor maintenance when I let contacts get rusty. I understand a 12 volt coil and battery but I didn't think points or condenser cared what the voltage was. What is a 12 volt ignition? Ignition is a verb not a noun. Are you refering to the switch??. I suspect your previous owner forgot to put in a resistor or didn't wire it up properly so that you start on 12 and run on 8 volts. If it has been sitting a long time just start at the battery and disconnect and clean and reconnect all the connections or else use a voltmeter and check the voltage drop across each connection. Making a spark is real simple. The electrons go through the switch, coil, points to ground. When the points open the magnetic field collapses and an high voltage current flows and jumps the spark plug gap to ground. There is no secret to it. If you don't get a spark there is either a short or an open circuit. On a vehicle like this it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to find the problem. A complete replacement of all the parts shouldn't take more than an hour. Your problem might even be where the low tension wire feeds off of the starter switch. The best investment you an make is a volt/ohm meter and a few minutes to learn how to use it.<BR>Best of luck. I hope you enjoy your truck.

[Guest]

Not only should it be a simple problem, but an inexpensive one as well. I went through the same thing recently. It turned out to be a faulty wire connection. You can check for spark by holding the high tension wire to a ground while opening the points with a screwdriver. All ignition components replaced (minus the starter)should not exceed $40- Good Luck!