[choirboy]

Hello, I am working on a '59 morris minor. It is an original barn find woody wagon. It has a positive ground electrical system. I have a couple of questions and am not clear about a few things. I have "spark" at the points however there is no spark at the spark plug. I assume the coil is good, but I am not sure if the wire between the distributor and coil should go to the plus or minus terminal. And then I would assume that the "hot" wire would go to the remaining terminal. Thanks for the help. Rick

[richard stewart 3rd]

Hi
The positive side of the coil goes to the points and the negative side goes to the ignition switch.
Rich

[richard stewart 3rd]

The points only act as a switch that puts voltage though the primary winding of the coil, which excites the secondary winding in the coil, that is the big wire that goes to the center of the distributor cap, these old systems only put out 25,000 to 30,000 volts. Then the spark is distributed from there to the plugs.
Check to see if you are getting spark from of the coil. Pull the wire out of the center of the distributor cap and hold it 1/4 to a 1/2 inch from the engine. If you have a spark when the points are closed & opened, then the coil should be good. If not then it will need to be replaced as the secondary winding is most likely bad.
Rich

[choirboy]

thanks Rich. Will try today. Rick

[speedydeedy]

Are you restoring the car to original or updating it? Also how about some pics?

[choirboy]

Right now I am trying to get it running. Pretty much going to put it back to original. From what I am learning, I will most likely put in an aftermarket distributor and leave the rest as stock as possible. As far as body... I have made arrangements to replace/repair necessary wood and will repaint a turquoise blue. Interior will be a simple front and rear seat recover along with door panels. I am also thinking of some wood accents on interior. Suspension will be pretty much stock unless there are upgrades that would be safer. Tires and wheels will be an update on the tires with a painted steel wheel. I am not good with the computer but will try to post some pics. Thanks for the inquiry. Rick

[matt167]

if you have not replaced the distributor cap and rotor. you need to do so.. with my '51 Chevy ( orig 6v neg ground ). there was a time I pulled it out of the garage and shut it off. later that day went to fire it back up. but it had no spark at the plugs but I had a good spark at the points.. changed orig coil and still had nothing.. tried to find what was wrong myself for a day. and eventually I found refrence on here that caps can be cracked bad enough to cause all the spark to go nowhere... sure enough. after a new cap it fired on the third rotation

[richard stewart 3rd]

Hi Choirboy
Just checking to find out how it's going with the car.
Riich

[choirboy]

Sorry for the slow response. As stated earlier, I am not a big computer user. I hooked up with a guy in Orlando Fl area (near where I am currently at) that was a mechanic in the UK. He deals in Mini's and has a few parts in stock. I got points, condenser and rotor from him. Rotor was not correct, but other parts worked and car fired right up. It purrs like a kitten. My mission this summer is to get wood replaced, then brakes, steering etc.
My front frame/unibody section is a little "weak" looking. It looks like metal is just old and got real thin with a few cracks along edges. Ant suggestions? Sorry if I sidetracked from topic... I will post question in proper category at a later date. Working on Pics. Thanks, Ricj

[delawarebill]

wow thats a neat veh... i also had one.. '59 delivery truck.. had it about 20 yrs ago.. sold it for $700 bucks and had 2 motors extra... i wanted to put a small v8 in the back connected to a corvair trans/axle but i could not find a bellhousing to connect the two... have fun.. bill