52 Henry J running issues

[hxcbill]

hello all

New to the forum. I own a 1952 Henry J corsair Deluxe. It was restored a few years ago my father in law. he past away a couple of years ago and left the car to my 4 yo daughter. So basically, ill be taking care of it until shes old enough for it.

Anyway, the car ran great for a while but I started having issues with it last fall. I left it alone for the winter and am now just getting back to it. Hoping some of you can help me out here.

Currently I cannot get it started. I can see that its flooding the intake as Gas is just pooling up down there. I definitely have spark. I have new plugs and wires on it as well. Before this all happened, it would start and idle normally but when i would rev the engine it would sputter at the higher rpms. I replaced the points,and the condenser but symptom hasn't changed. after a while of trying to figure that out, it stopped starting all together. I rebuilt the carb and gave it a thorough cleaning as well. Float is set to the factory spec too. I did have an issue with the fuel pump hitting the carb at about 8 psi so we replaced it with another pump we had and its now getting about 4 psi.

any ideas?

thank you

photo of her below

[Fid]

It needs 4 things to start and run properly - fuel, spark, compression and correctly timed ignition.  It's unlikely the ignition timing changed but it might be worth checking. A six cylinder should be set right on TDC.  I once had the fiber timing gear in my J get crumbled but if that happened, you'd have no spark. A quick test is to pull the cap, run the starter and see if the rotor rotates.

Another thing to check - you mentioned new plug wires. The HJ rotor turns counter clockwise so make sure the wires are in the correct sequence going counter clockwise.  Connecting them backwards is an easy mistake to make.  Even if the wires are backwards, the car will often start but just run like crap. 

You have a nice looking car there - it needs to be running.  I hope we can provide you the guidance you need.

[Terry T]

high speed sputtering can be caused by a failing coil, considering that all other changes were done.

make sure you have a good ground on that battery cable.

goto a tractor supply place for a 6 volt coil.... comparatively cheap

[Fid]

I can attest to what Terry is saying. My '51 Kaiser sputtered and coughed to the point where I couldn't drive it.  A new coil fixed it.  I got it at NAPA, NAPA ECH IC7  for $25.  Problem solved.

[hxcbill]

Thanks all

I'm going to pick up a new coil. After playing around with it yesterday, I now have very intermittent spark at the points.

Tractor supply you say?

[Terry T]

any tractor supply place since old tractors are 6 volt and many positive ground

I use TSC .

[Corsairdeluxe]

Just use this part number for reference.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Standard-T-Series-UC14T-Ignition-Coil-/381568782595?hash=item58d7459103:g:27gAAOxy3NBSh67M&vxp=mtr

[hxcbill]

This one from Tractor supply?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tisco-ignition-coil-396546r93

[Fid]

That looks like the one.  As mentioned in my post, I got mine at NAPA and it works great.  They may cost less from a tractor supplier. When I checked at my local Fleet Farm, they were more expensive than the ones NAPA has. 

Be sure to connect the positive terminal of the coil to the distributor and the negative to the ignition switch, assuming your car is still the original positive ground. That's something else you might check - all KF products, including the Henry J, were originally 6 volt Positive ground. A lot of people now-a-days don't know this so yours may have been switched and that may do damage over time.

[hxcbill]

yup, its still positive ground.

Ill update when i pick up the new coil and install it.

Thanks again everyone. Im new to old cars and im learning as I go along with this one. Its my intention to keep this car running and in great condition. As well as original as possible.

[Fid]

Over all, the Henry J is pretty easy to keep running. If I can do it, anyone can!

[BigDave LM6174]

Nice looking Henry J.  It made me go out to the garage to make sure you didn't have ours.  LOL

My car is the same, however I run the small hubcaps and beauty rings instead of full hubcaps.

Welcome to the forum!

[hxcbill]

Well, new coil, new points, a couple of new wire connectors, and still no spark at the points. I'm thinking a bad wire somewhere grounding out or something. Once in a while I'll get an initial spark when first turning over but then nothing at all.  I think I'm losing it. Lol

[Fid]

Check the wire inside the distributor. That can wear bare and cause problems too.  Here's what I found in my '51 Kaiser last summer when it kept sputtering and dying.  Check both ends of that wire too as it may be brittle and loose on the ends.

[hxcbill]

Yeh, mine was pretty bad. I replaced it and still no dice. I gave up on it for the day. Next chance I have I'll do continuity checks on all the wires involved. May have to just replace them. Anybody have a good source for cloth wireing?