Poor Spark?
This SHOULD be pretty simple, the way I see it the possibilities are:
1...Coil wire. If you checked spark using the coil wire, that is "run" in the car, then you eliminated that
2...Cap and rotor. If they are not new replace them. Inspect the rotor for "punch through" IE carbon tracking/ damage that allows the spark to conduct down through the rotor and ground to the shaft. Inspect cap for dirt, debri, metallic tracking, etc Make certain you actually have the correct cap/ rotor combination, and that some oddball combo of parts has not created a big gap between rotor contact and cap coil tower contact. I can't imagine what that might be
3...Wires. As said above, measure them end to end with an ohmeter. "Shake" them to see if they are intermittent. The "old standard" for old style resistance wire was a max. of 1000 ohms per foot of length. I've never seen a good one anywhere near that high
4...ROTOR PHASING. When doing this conversion, it is IMPORTANT to get the distributor pickup wires in the correct polarity, as it offsets the spark timing in relation to the contacts in the cap/ rotor. Google it
5...Related to (4), reluctor installation. This is just something to check while you are making certain things are "right." The reluctor has TWO keyways, and an arrow beside at least one. This same reluctor is used in both SB and B/RB engines and the distributors of which rotate opposite directions
The one below shows BIG block. On a SB you want the pin next to the CW arrow
This SHOULD be pretty simple, the way I see it the possibilities are:
1...Coil wire. If you checked spark using the coil wire, that is "run" in the car, then you eliminated that
2...Cap and rotor. If they are not new replace them. Inspect the rotor for "punch through" IE carbon tracking/ damage that allows the spark to conduct down through the rotor and ground to the shaft. Inspect cap for dirt, debri, metallic tracking, etc Make certain you actually have the correct cap/ rotor combination, and that some oddball combo of parts has not created a big gap between rotor contact and cap coil tower contact. I can't imagine what that might be
3...Wires. As said above, measure them end to end with an ohmeter. "Shake" them to see if they are intermittent. The "old standard" for old style resistance wire was a max. of 1000 ohms per foot of length. I've never seen a good one anywhere near that high
4...ROTOR PHASING. When doing this conversion, it is IMPORTANT to get the distributor pickup wires in the correct polarity, as it offsets the spark timing in relation to the contacts in the cap/ rotor. Google it
5...Related to (4), reluctor installation. This is just something to check while you are making certain things are "right." The reluctor has TWO keyways, and an arrow beside at least one. This same reluctor is used in both SB and B/RB engines and the distributors of which rotate opposite directions
The one below shows BIG block. On a SB you want the pin next to the CW arrow
