Questions and Answers

Ford F-100 Won't Fire Up Q. I have a 1971 Ford F-100 short bed pickup with a transplanted engine. I believe its a late 70's 350 modified. My problem is no spark to the plugs. I have replaced the following items. coil, solenoid, plug wires, rotor, distributer cap. I am getting spark to the points and they do open and close. Any ideas? Thanks...

A. Point type ignition systems are very simple to troubleshoot. First thing you need to do is check and make sure the point gap is correct. I believe on that engine the point gap should be 0.019", or about the thickness of a match book cover. The dwell should be 30°. I always set by dwell and not by gap. It's more accurate.

Next thing you need to do is check for voltage at the + side of the coil with the key ON. If you don't, you'll need to trace the wiring back to the ignition switch and find where the break is or if the ignition switch itself is bad. I'm willing to bet that's the problem right there.

What you can do is run a jumper wire from the battery positive terminal to the ignition coil + and try to start it. I'll bet it will.