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Posted By Discussion Topic: Bad 1936 condenser?     Grant 06-25-2015 @ 6:34 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 Last August our '36 broke down just in time to miss the Central Nationals in Springfield. With the assistance of many of you here on Forum (see Stumbly 36...carb??...or ign??), for which I remain sincerely grateful, the car seemed to be running very well by late October 2014. Repairs included installation of a 97 carb rebuilt by Ken Isidor in Connecticut and a complete distributor from Bubba in Indiana. After having driven about 300 miles this year, a similar problem has developed. About ten days ago I thought I had the lousy performance issues resolved by tightening up the ring clamps on the fuel line which eliminated the many air bubbles forming in the see-through gas filter installed just before the gas line enters the mechanical fuel pump, but that is not the case. And, just for fun, the Columbia rear axle is refusing to shift back into LOW. To eliminate the possibility of a vacuum leak being a factor, the rubber line for the Columbia has been removed from the outlet on the intake manifold. That outlet now has a short plugged-up rubber hose on it, and the rubber line running to the Columbia is also plugged. The current misbehavior is: 1. Starts fine and runs very well when cold, with a nice idle and snappy acceleration even though the Columbia is still in HIGH 2. The "on and off surge" sensation described in Stumbly 36...carb??...or ign?? returns after about ten minutes of driving around in the village one mile north of us 3. Trying to move forward from a stop sign becomes very difficult ...... near-zero ability to get rolling again, with pulling out the choke knob about 1/2 an inch being the only way to do that in first gear 4. Once the car is moving again, the stumbling and surging sensation occurs intermittently during second and third gear 5. Large black soot deposits have appeared on the garage floor directly below where the left and right exhaust outlets would be when the '36 is idling (NB. this is a new development) Yesterday I disconnected the mechanical fuel pump and ran only on the low pressure E8902 Airtex electric fuel pump. That seemed to help a little bit, but not a lot. It turns out that the mechanical fuel pump on the engine (1936 LB) is an aftermarket repro with no screw to allow drainage of the bowl. A rebuilt correct genuine FoMoCo pump has been ordered from Ken in Connecticut. Could the large black soot deposits on the garage floor be the result of incomplete fuel combustion due to an ignition malfunction? Is it possible that the brand new condenser on Bubba's rebuilt distributor assembly went bad during seven months of unheated winter storage? We are booked to participate in the pre-war section of a show at Ford's Product Development Center in Dearborn on July 17th. I would like to have this very annoying roadster running properly by then. TomO 06-25-2015 @ 7:19 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7244 Joined: Oct 2009 Grant, How strong is the spark? A failing condenser will give a weak spark. A weak spark will cause a rich condition. Get a spark tester like this one sold at NAPA http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Ignition-Tester-Adjustable-Spark-Gap-Tester/_/R-SER606_0415642697 Check your spark on both banks and watch the spark intensity as the engine warms up. If it starts to fail as the engine warms up, it could be the coil or the condenser. Replace the condenser with a NAPA FA 5. Make sure that both screws are snug and have lock washers. When you have good spark, clean your plugs again and take it for a long drive. Tom Grant 06-25-2015 @ 4:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks to Tom O, and also to Ken I who called this morning. That spark tester is not available locally. However, I can pick up an FA5 condenser first thing tomorrow at NAPA. They can also supply an IH200 condenser, which is recommended by Ken Update to follow ............ Grant 06-28-2015 @ 12:32 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 NAPA was able to supply an FA5 condenser. They also had an IH200, as promised, but the diameter was much too small. The diameter of the FA5 was larger, but not nearly as large as the old condenser which fit perfectly. A second problem with the NAPA FA5 was the ground strap, which was flat. It had to be rotated ninety degrees at the end before being bolted on. Also, the hole for the bolt was too small and required enlargement. Despite the frustrations and necessary modifications, there is happy news. The FA5 seems to work fine. The engine now runs well in our garage, and the sooty exhaust deposits are gone. All eight spark plugs were blackened, but after cleaning and re-gapping appear to be firing properly. Setting the idle was re-done in accordance with Tom O's instructions in the middle of page 3 in the Stumbly 36...carb??...or ign?? thread. Currently our gravel concession road is a mucky mess due to two days of rain. Hopefully a test drive will be possible in a couple of days. The spark plugs are Autolite BT4, marked Made In England. I don't trust anything electrical that is British. Could someone recommend excellent plugs for a 1936 LB engine which are Made In USA? ken ct. 06-28-2015 @ 10:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1513 Joined: Jan 2010 Glad the FA5 worked for you. Carry the 200 with you. The diam. does not matter on account of where it has to be mounted as I tried to explain to you. The fa5 sounds like the wrong cond for a 36 if you had to reposition the end bracket. Sounds like a 37-41 condenser. ken ct. TomO 06-30-2015 @ 9:41 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7244 Joined: Oct 2009 Glad you seem to be running OK, Grant. The 37-41 condenser is P/N FA-49. NAPA must have changed suppliers as the FA-5 used to work as purchased. Tom This message was edited by TomO on 6-30-15 @ 9:42 AM supereal 06-30-2015 @ 12:48 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 If your car has the original gas line from the tank to the firewall, it is likely that it is nearly plugged with dirt and rust. This shows up mimicking ignition problems, particularly on hard pulls or getting away from a stop. The high moisture content of alcohol in fuel, even in supposedly "regular" gas, causes rust where the copper coating in the steel line is breached. I can't remember replacing any fuel line until my '47 starting acting up. The line was the last place I looked. A partially plugged line will show good pressure when checked, but that doesn't address quantity. Mine got so bad that even the electric pump used for priming couldn't fix the coughing, bucking, and poor power. Grant 07-02-2015 @ 5:40 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 535 Joined: Oct 2009 Supereal........ Thanks for your input. The fuel line was replaced in Albuquerque at Worldwide Automotive on our way back to the Detroit area following the June 2013 Golden Jubilee Meet in Tahoe. You're right.......I should probably disconnect the line and blow it out, just in case some sort of blockage has somehow developed. That will be done before attending the FoMoCo show in Dearborn. TomO 07-02-2015 @ 7:04 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7244 Joined: Oct 2009 Grant, Did you replace the line with a copper coated steel line or a rubber line? I have heard of problems with the rubber lines not supplying enough fuel for the engine. Tom

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