RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Hi ax, congratulations on getting a vette and welcome to the forum. I'll try to answer some of your questions and then I have some for you. Yes you should have two wires connected to the + side of the coil. (and a condenser), when you turn the key to on (or run) voltage goes thrua resistor wire to the coil, when you turn the key to start you get full battery voltage thru the other wire on the coil as soon as you put the key back to run your back to getting voltage only thru the resistor wire.
Can you tell me what you have done since it ran last?
Is the point gap at .019 ?
Was the distributor out ?
Do you have the cap wired with the correct firing?
Got any books like a Haynes manual?
Hope this helps, PG.

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Hey PG,
got the gap set at .19.....also have dwell meter set ao 30.
Dist was out to clean....was replaced at TDC cyl #1 with rotor at about 45 to front pass. side of motor.
wires are correct.
It will run, just seems to miss and stalllow RPM.
can you discribe the resistor wire so I know what to look for?
and I do have a shop manual.

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Hi again Ax, you say the distributor was out are you sure you didn't miss by one notch on the dist gear? Wheres the timing mark at?
In the Shop Manual on page 13-18 is a "Starting circuit diagram" outline,
on page 14-20 you'll find the actual diagram and all the other info. PG

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Timing mark at "0" TDC when Dist was installed.
The Dist will only fully seat in a couple of positions.
I did check the wiring diagrams, but will double check them.
Thanks AX

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Ax, if you reinstalled the distributor like the book says on page 4-4 and everything else is correct, than you've got me. PG

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Yea, I'm startin to think the new plug wires have too much resistance for the old system.
I can get it to run but it still misses at low rpm. especially when I put it in gear.The thing I can't figure out is why I can get the plug to fire when I pull the plug wire off the cap and let it arc from the cap to the wire.

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

When you pull the plug wire off, it increases the amount of voltage build-up in order to jump the air gap. Can you tell if it is one specific plug that is missing? If so, I'd check that plug and maybe switch with another one or a known good plug. I've seen bad new plugs, just not very often.

The resistor wire on my car has a hi-temp, braided insulation on it. Since you have 12 volts when running, I'm guessing yours is either disconnected or missing altogether. But that's not your problem.

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Good call 73, possible cracked ceramic insulator from installing the new plugs.

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

OK........everyone together>>>>>>AX IS A DUMBASS<<<<<<....lol.
I just put a whole new set of plugs in today and presto....runs perfect....had 2 bad plugs ,either from new(which i doubt) or from the 3rd time the P>O>S Q-Jet dumped huge amounts of gas into the intake.

BTW....if anyone is looking for a used Q-Jet ,let me know.........I have one for sale....CHEAP

RE: 68 ignition trouble
 

Forgot to add.........
A BIG thank you to everyone that responded to my post....you info helped me rule out my potential problems and get to the bottom of this.
Now that thats fixed I can get back to the neverending sanding and body work. (yea)