Shocked by Distributor

[Tahiti Coral]

Yup... 11.75V at the coil with key on. I think I need a resistor, too.

[Jerry Forrester]

Well I did a little testing last night and I think I will take the path of least resistance (pun intended) and order a new cap & wires. I did ground the motor to the frame with jumper cables and it made no difference, even though I still can not locate an engine to frame ground strap. I can figure out how to mount one easily but would like to know where the stock ground should be?

@ Junior: Nothing sparks in the dark.

The wires appear good but do not fit as tightly into the cap as they should. Also, after reading the manual and going through the archives I know that this car should have a ballast resistor. I can't seem to locate that and I have a newer coil that requires one. I am assuming that the resistor is a porcelain unit (like on my tractor) and later model Studes used a pink resistor wire? Where should the resistor be mounted on this model? My multimeter took a puke and I will borrow a buddy's today to check the voltage at the coil with key on. I think I should be looking for about 7.6V, according to other posts.

Thanks again.

There should be a gasket between the distributor body and the engine block. When the distributor is clamped down tight, the ground is made through the clamp, clamp bolt, the dristribitor shaft and the vacuum advance hard line. But the vacuum advance should be disconnected when setting the tming.
NOW. Did you put the jumper wire from the distributor body to the engine like I advised you to do?
Who told you to check the engine or body grounds? Did I miss that part of the thread?

[Jerry Forrester]

Junior, you are leaving the condenser out of the equasion. Have you never picked up a condenser that someone had charged up and left for you to 'find'?
I used to just love to polish up a condenser nice and shiney, then charge it up and leave on the sidewalk in front of the shop I worked at about a hundred years ago and watch as one of the bums or ladies of the night (it was in a bad part of town) come by and pick it up. I was a mean kid.;-)

[Tahiti Coral]

There should be a gasket between the distributor body and the engine block. When the distributor is clamped down tight, the ground is made through the clamp, clamp bolt, the dristribitor shaft and the vacuum advance hard line. But the vacuum advance should be disconnected when setting the tming.
NOW. Did you put the jumper wire from the distributor body to the engine like I advised you to do?
Who told you to check the engine or body grounds? Did I miss that part of the thread?

Gasket is missing so I need to order that, too. I get shocked with the vacuum line on or off. I will try the jumper line as well. The motor to body ground was something I decided to try myself to eliminate all possibilities.

[junior]

no, never have discharged a condenser, didn't know it would wake you up....the car stereos that the younger crowd has now-a-days have a series of 1 Farad capacitors wired up...these are as large as some of their forearms, now those I would imagine would wake you up in a real hurry! Junior

[Tahiti Coral]

So I did change the cap & plug wires, set timing to spec and it runs like a dream.

[jclary]

So I did change the cap & plug wires, set timing to spec and it runs like a dream.

That's great, but you didn't say if it has quit shocking you. We'd like a definitive answer. So grab that distributor and let us know!

[Tahiti Coral]

That's great, but you didn't say if it has quit shocking you. We'd like a definitive answer. So grab that distributor and let us know!

I grabbed that sucker firmly and gave it a twist to set timing and no jolt! ;-)

[Skybolt]

Ground strap for the engine is at the engine mount on the passenger side. See photo.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2552...OT?vhost=rides

There are some photos of the Champ engine in a 59 Lark. If you search through them you will see the ground wire. You might also see other things of interest.
I used an "O" ring instead of a gasket for the distributor. Even with new parts all through the ignition system I have still had the occasional shock and when you play with capacitive discharge ignitions you get a kick that will make ones extremities shoot out with no control of the owner.

[Tahiti Coral]

Ground strap for the engine is at the engine mount on the passenger side. See photo.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2552...OT?vhost=rides

There are some photos of the Champ engine in a 59 Lark. If you search through them you will see the ground wire. You might also see other things of interest.
I used an "O" ring instead of a gasket for the distributor. Even with new parts all through the ignition system I have still had the occasional shock and when you play with capacitive discharge ignitions you get a kick that will make ones extremities shoot out with no control of the owner.

Those are some great pics and you are doing a fantastic job. You are giving me some inspiration to work on my Lark. That car looks really rust-free as well. It is unusual to see the Deluxe model with no radio, but an optional clock. I picked up a '60 Lark frame from MN yesterday and can now see where the ground wire mounted to the frame. At the moment I am running the distributor without the gasket. A vendor sent me an O-ring that was supposed to work but I found it to be too thick allow the distrutor to seat correctly. I will order one when I need something else. The car runs fine and is ready to be put away for the winter (or at least worked on).