I have been infected with JAS

I am not even half way through my current project, and now I have succumbed to a seemingly incurable disease.

What is really bad is I noticed a place in Ranger with at least a dozen old, un-restored 55-57 Chevrolet cars and trucks sitting in the yard. Every imaginable body style too, all of them looking like they need a new home.

I have fooled around with old cars for more than fifty years, but I have never made money on them. Usually have more in them than they are worth before I am finished.

I've had a `55 two door 210 for nearly twenty five years... it's a hot rod with a potent small block. I drove it to little vintage car gatherings and took it to the drag strip a few dozen times over the years. Now I'm over all that loud, rumpity noise and the endless tuning, maintaining and repairing broken parts. It is for sale and when it's gone I won't have regrets, I'm over it.

We have room for 2 cars besides our daily drivers, so we have the '47 Willys and a '63 Nova SS. I've been working on the Nova for 2 years. Just tried to start it and it cranked, fired, but won't seem to run with the key in RUN. It has a rebuilt engine, all new wiring (done by me, so I think I know where to start), New ignition switch, points, condensor, and ballast resistor. The only thing not new is the coil, but it tests ok.  If it didn't fire at all I'd know where to start, but it fires when I crank it, but not in run and I have 12 volts on the run ckt and start ckt. I think I might have a sneak ckt. 

drm101 wrote: Just tried to start it and it cranked, fired, but won't seem to run with the key in RUN. It has a ballast resistor. If it didn't fire at all I'd know where to start, but it fires when I crank it, but not in run and I have 12 volts on the run ckt and start ckt.

Testing> There are two power sources to the coil. One is from ignition when in the RUN position that eventually goes to the PLUS side of the coil, but runs Through the ballast resistor first.

The 2nd feed to coil ONLY works when the starter solenoid is engaged during cranking. That feed wire is on the small R terminal on the solenoid, and yours is OK because it fires when cranking. No need to test that stuff.

So you need to test the wire that goes from ign terminal on ign switch that will eventually go to one side of the ballast resistor. The other side of ballast resistor goes to the plus side of coil.

Test: use a test light or voltmeter on both sides of ballast with key ON. If both sides are dead, your problem is from the ballast to the key switch. That feed wire should run through a firewall bulkhead connector and those connections can get corroded where it plugs together.

If you do have power to only one side of resistor, but nothing going to coil, then the ballast is burned out or a bad connection on either terminal on it.


If you just wired it and it never worked right since, one thing you might have done wrong on the ign switch, is if you put the "run" wire on the ACCY terminal instead of the "I" terminal. I believe it would then act exactly like what you said.

Great! Got any parts for a British limey?