1976 Spider not getting any spark!

dirkmonson · Post by **dirkmonson** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:25 pm

It seems like as soon as I get one problem figured out, another creeps up. The other day I took my 1976 Spider out for a quick drive around the neighborhood. Everything seemed to be going fine until about 3 minutes into my joyride. The engine started to sound like it was missing, backfired a couple times and then fell silent. I tried refiring the car in neutral, but no luck. I then tried dropping it into second gear and go for a starter less start. This didn't work either. Luckily, I was on the downhill stretch of my trip and was able to coast back into my garage.

I decided to pull the plugs and found that were a bit carbony (technical car term), so I swapped them out. Before I did that, however, I checked for spark. The plugs only got literally one spark each time I tried to start it and that was it. All the while the starter kept trying to get the car to fire until I finally quit turning the key.

I put the new plugs in and now I'm lucky if I get spark to any of the four plugs. I replaced the plug wires last fall because it was missing quite badly, a lot like it did when it died the other day. Up until now, the problem seemed to have gone away.

My question is: does anybody have any idea where I should start? Is this an ignition problem, electrical, or something even more serious???

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:03 pm

I'd replace the condensors, but while you're at it, check the point gap

dirkmonson · Post by **dirkmonson** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:35 pm

The point gap is correct, so I ordered two new condensors. They should be here either Friday or Monday. I'll put them in and see if it makes any difference. If that does change my situation (here's to hoping it does) what would the next possible problem be? Overall, would I just be better off converting this thing overe to electronic ignition?

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:34 pm

I think it's pretty easy to carry a spare set of points and cond in the glove box. That way, you can repair the car on the side of the road. What I did on mine is to set it up to just use one set of points, but left the 2nd set in the dist. The one time a condensor failed, I just swapped the wires to the other set and was back running in about 5 mins.

pertyfly · Post by **pertyfly** » Wed May 10, 2006 11:51 am

Mark,
Would you be able to post how you modified that? I assume it was pretty simple, but don't have the dizzy in front of me right now to look at. And does it affect anything else? What's the benefit of having 2 sets of points?

Thanks

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Wed May 10, 2006 5:34 pm

Well, you can do it either of 2 ways. The dual point setup uses a relay that switches to the "B" set of points when starting, so you can either jumper the relay or just run the brown wire from the coil directly to the "A" set of points at the distributor.

To jumper the relay, remove the relay and insert a jumper between circuit 30/51 (brown wire) and circuit 87b (green wire). Circuit numbers are printed on the relay next to the spade connectors.

At the dist, the green wire goes to the "A" points, the green/black wire goes to the "B" points