Has the distributor been removed from the vehicle or have you been doing all the work with the distributor still in the engine?
DD

I have moved the distributor a few times, to find TDC, inspect points and re-gap etc...
I haven't done this yet, but a couple of you have pointed that out. will check this tomorrow.

Couldn't find anywhere with a decent set of wires in stock today, just the cheapy economy sets available. So i've put an order in for a bit better NGK set. should be at the parts house down the road tomorrow.

I'm going to try wires first before getting a new cap and rotor, seems that I'm having the exact same symptoms with two different (fairly new) caps and rotors. ALSO, located some spark leakage between two wires, and also to the inner fender!! it may very well be that a tired/cheap set of wires has been the sole culprit this whole time.

on a related note: seems to me that there is VERY little space for movement of the top of the distributor cap, i.e. two spark plug wire ends (connectors?) actually TOUCH the inner fender while sitting still?! one wire being very bent over to make its way up to the spark plug. that being said the current set of wires has no 90 degree angled fittings. seems that two 90 degree ends would give some more room for movement of the engine under load.
I wonder if this is the reason why i would find bent rotors due to the cap being "jarred" by and sudden torque or movement of the engine???

(P.s. I've checked my motor mounts to be sure no more than usual movement is occuring.)

am I on to something here?

does anyone else have such a small amount of space from the top of their distributor cap and the inner passenger side fender? this is a 1965 dart (170 slant)

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

that being said... does a stock set of wires for a dart/valiant have any 90 degree wire to cap fittings? or is it more of a "use angled ends as needed" universal set?

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

The original wire sets for the '60-'66 cars had two or three 90° distributor ends for exactly the reason you describe. When the cars got wider in '67, this was discontinued and all six plug wires got 180° (straight) distributor ends, and that's the only kind you find nowtimes (I had Magnecor make me a set with the two or three 90° ends).

It sounds as if you are onto the right cause (or at least one of them!) of your issue. I would suspect your motor mounts have sagged severely if you're getting plug wires touching the inner fender; even on the early cars the all-six-straight-ends wire sets fit okeh without hitting sheetmetal if the motor mounts are in good shape.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Franklyn,

The ones I have seen are straight on the plug ends and 90 on the cap.

Click on the red link below my name to view pictures of mine. They are the basic 8mm V8 set for $32.00 from Summit Racing. All silicone with nice boots and have both straight or 90 ends. You cut to length and you get 2 spares.....A couple of mine almost touch the inner fender. I have never had a problem with them. By cutting them to length you can minimize any rubbing.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

DAN... great, good to know thanks!

So I guess the set that I ordered in (not paid for yet, of course) may not work for my scenario? (no 90 degree angles)

Thanks TED

I'll look in to some V8 sets, great idea and you get 2 extra:) your plug wires area looks nice and clean and decluttered. never thought of cutting wires to clean things up. You just cut, strip, crimp connector on and go? or is there more too it? solder?

as an aside...
This thread is getting awfully long and addresses so many different little things, thanks for those few who keep popping up...

How do we check sag in motor mounts? my possibly "unrefined" method of checking mounts was to slip the clutch and torque the engine in 1st gear and also in reverse watching for any radical movement... which produced none. I also, with a 4 foot pole pried up on the mount with leverage... no movement. call me a redneck, and maybe this isn't an effective way of checking mounts, but made sense as far as an elementary knowledge of physics goes. lol


anyhow, thanks agian for the advice along the way.

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

just went out and snapped a shot.
the blue wire is a 90 degree that I stole from my late model pickup for testing purposes, and back one plug (bottom left, Plug 1) is the other terminal that is touching the fender and tough to tell from the pic, but bent over badly. this wire is very tough to get on or off when cap is installed.

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

You appear to be missing a distributor cap clip!

The motor mount insulators should be brick-shaped. If they are bulged, distorted, cracked, or shaped other than a rectangular brick, they're done and need replacement. Your distributor is sitting unusually close to the inner fender.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

yes i am infact missing the clip. good eye:)
It was quite rusty and finally broke yesterday. I might just have been a little bit too quick with installing the unit for about the 5th time that afternoon. will need to find a replacement, but not before deciding weather or not to grab a different distributor, as i've determined upon a second inspection that my vaccuum advance unit doesnt work as well as i originally was convinced. you mentioned you may a have one kicking around? what price range would you let one go for if you've got one Dan? I guess we wouldn't have to worry about any shippping;) we're pretty close here.

my mounts appear fine and dont present any movement under the conditions I stated earlier, but yes, seems like unusually small amount of clearnace between distributor and inner fender. maybe some sag going on.

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

I will have to see what I turn up as I carry on unpacking here. We'll figure something out.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

with the car running, do you see any movement in the distributor? If so, check the gear on the end of shaft, mine was missing a few teeth.
That clip missing may also be causing your cap to move around..

I made a set of plug wires today with a couple angles, this has fixed my clearance issue for now and doesn't seem to be any spark leakage at all. still not much room, but at least a bit of room for movement rather than touching. ( though I did notice when I popped a plug out to check spark while running, sparks were arcing between the NEG and center post and POS and center post on the coil, this stopped of course once I began checking this wire on a solid ground bolt )

popped the new wires in and found unfortunatly that the spark was still anemic and intermittent at the plug wires, pulled the distributor and regapped the points AGAIN, popped it in and it ran better and then in fact good for a moment, but back to where it has been, sputtering/coughing/missing etc. frustrating.
All I can think of now is cap and rotor, yet i've tried two of each.

I've checked the point cam, seems to have even gap/dwell throughout all the edges from what I can tell.

I think I asked this before, but to be clear, if I am getting strong/even spark at the coil wire can I rule out bad points and condenser? i may see if i can find a set tomorrow regardles.

racinkain
there doesn't seem to be any movement of the distributor while running.

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

If you are (or have been) getting visible arcover on the coil, then there may very well be a carbon track along the coil tower, which will allow such arcing even with good coil + spark plug wires in place. Same is true at distributor cap towers. Resultant current leakage can cause poor running.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Got the car ticking over strong today and went for a burn around the block a few times and all is holding up well!!

New points and condenser, cleaned up some VERY dirty coil terminals/connections, including the one inside the distributor

I still have a few things to clean up ( coil post arcing everyonce in awhile, still need to address my non working vac advance, distributor clip broken, etc.)

Seems I may have been experiencing a case of new condenser failing alongside leaky wires and some dirty connections etc.

new distributor and new coil?? might just be saving a bit of dough over the next while.

now on to getting the brakes working better, master cylinder is flowing back causing a very unsafe condition for driving on busy roads.

thanks for all those who stuck around and provided encouragment and focus.
i need to remember to not discount the simple little things:)

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Franklyn
1965 Dart GT - 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

Good report!......I too have bought new condensers that were bad.

_________________
Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG