6Volt Ignition system

Hey, Good morning.
I am in the process of getting my 53' Special to run. I have been going over allot of the wiring, replaced the battery and have it on a trickle charger for a 6 volt system as I have not gotten to the fuel system yet. My question though is: When I verify spark by disconnecting the lead from the center of the distributor and go to ground it seems really weak. I see a very faint arc once or twice then sometimes nothing. I have been going through the manual and learning the works, should I be looking at the coil? generator? or generator contacts? Ignition cables are good, spark plugs are clean and gapped correctly...any help as I am lost in the book.
SpecialJR53
 
points

Have you heard of a pointless condensor for these distributors on a 6V I believe someone mentioned this to me once?
 
Have you heard of a pointless condensor for these distributors on a 6V I believe someone mentioned this to me once?

Not sure that I understand the question. The stock condenser for these distributors is "pointless" in the sense that it is separate from the points. To the best of my knowledge, a combined points/condenser assembly was not offered for the stock I-8 distributors.

Perhaps you are thinking of a pointless distributor or distributor conversion. These use an optical, magnetic, or hall-effect pickup to drive an electronic circuit which switches the actual coil current. These are available for a 6 volt system, if that was your question.

Lastly, just to head off any confusion, the same points and condenser are used regardless of whether you are running 6 or 12 volts. The only ignition parts on a points-type system that are voltage-specific are the coil and ballast resistor. Most 6 volt systems don't use a resistor though.

Ray
 
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