'64 got towed home last night
#1
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'64 got towed home last night
After a fun day leading a parade with the local Corvette club, the water temp pegged out. Got moving on the open road , temp, normal. At a stop light, engine quit. Would intermittently crank but would not start. Bone stock 327/300. PG. Factory air, not working) Converted to Pertronix Ignitor ignition months ago w/no problem til now. Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail. .Anyone had experience w/ this problem ? This morning it fired right up, ran smooth. Concerned about getting stranded again and thinking about a BB Dewitts rad.for Florida heat. Good,carb rich enough, timing good. Thanks, Dave.
#2
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Swap in a set of points and see what happens
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#3
Team Owner
After a fun day leading a parade with the local Corvette club, the water temp pegged out. Got moving on the open road , temp, normal. At a stop light, engine quit. Would intermittently crank but would not start. Bone stock 327/300. PG. Factory air, not working) Converted to Pertronix Ignitor ignition months ago w/no problem til now. Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail. .Anyone had experience w/ this problem ? This morning it fired right up, ran smooth. Concerned about getting stranded again and thinking about a BB Dewitts rad.for Florida heat. Good,carb rich enough, timing good. Thanks, Dave.
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#4
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I agree with Frankie! All cooling system (rad, fan and fan clutch) related. While your in there, I would consider changing the trans fluid and filter due to the extreme heat on the fluid. It's cheap maintenance. Dennis
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#5
Melting Slicks
My remarks may not even be worth $.02. I, too, have a '64 which I have owned since 1970. Through many attempts to "improve" on the original engineering, I have gone back to nearly bone stock. In the late 70's, I put an electronic ignition on the car. I believe it was "Wellstronic". I went to school in D.C. where it was humid. The car stranded me on a couple occasions. The final straw was on a bridge in Virginia. I purchased new points, condenser, rotor etc and on the spot, on the road, threw the old system over the bridge and my problems went away. I'm sure that the systems now are better but GM did a pretty good job with the old cars at the time. I would consider going back to your stock ignition. Most of us don't put a load of miles on our cars so the upkeep of the original ignition system is not a chore.
#6
Burning Brakes
"Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail."
I, too have a 64 327-365 Factory Air (working) and these cars do really run hot under normal operation, with your cooling system getting that hot it might have overheated the electronics. I'd look over thermostat and hoses. I recently flushed my cooling system (3 times) and I could not beleive how dirty it was. I runs right on the design temperature now in Florida.
I, too have a 64 327-365 Factory Air (working) and these cars do really run hot under normal operation, with your cooling system getting that hot it might have overheated the electronics. I'd look over thermostat and hoses. I recently flushed my cooling system (3 times) and I could not beleive how dirty it was. I runs right on the design temperature now in Florida.
Last edited by mjdart; 03-26-2017 at 08:24 PM.
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#7
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As others have said, check the cooling components. When Pertronix quit, they're done and I don't think you'd restart the next day. I have had a couple coils give the same problem you had. Did you happen to check for spark when the car quit?
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#10
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My remarks may not even be worth $.02. I, too, have a '64 which I have owned since 1970. Through many attempts to "improve" on the original engineering, I have gone back to nearly bone stock. In the late 70's, I put an electronic ignition on the car. I believe it was "Wellstronic". I went to school in D.C. where it was humid. The car stranded me on a couple occasions. The final straw was on a bridge in Virginia. I purchased new points, condenser, rotor etc and on the spot, on the road, threw the old system over the bridge and my problems went away. I'm sure that the systems now are better but GM did a pretty good job with the old cars at the time. I would consider going back to your stock ignition. Most of us don't put a load of miles on our cars so the upkeep of the original ignition system is not a chore.
#11
Instructor
Thread Starter
"Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail."
I, too have a 64 327-365 Factory Air (working) and these cars do really run hot under normal operation, with your cooling system getting that hot it might have overheated the electronics. I'd look over thermostat and hoses. I recently flushed my cooling system (3 times) and I could not beleive how dirty it was. I runs right on the design temperature now in Florida.
I, too have a 64 327-365 Factory Air (working) and these cars do really run hot under normal operation, with your cooling system getting that hot it might have overheated the electronics. I'd look over thermostat and hoses. I recently flushed my cooling system (3 times) and I could not beleive how dirty it was. I runs right on the design temperature now in Florida.
#12
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Have you checked the fan clutch (if it has one)?
Hot idling and low speed, but normal at highway speeds indicate clutch may be bad or timing off or a number of other things.
Hot idling and low speed, but normal at highway speeds indicate clutch may be bad or timing off or a number of other things.
#15
All of the advice is good but did you verify that the temperature gauge is reading correct. You may very well have two problems going on, a failing coil, Pertronix or corroded bulkhead connector providing power to the ignition and a gauge reading that's not correct.
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#16
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Great advice Thanks, tbarb. It might be prudent to let the car idle in the driveway for a time to simulate parade conditions and check the gauge periodically with a laser thermometer and see what happens.
#17
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About five years ago, I had two Pertronix coils fail me within a period of two years. Luckily I kept my old coil with me in the car and didn't need a tow. Replaced the last Pertronix coil with one from NAPA and no more trouble. Pertronix coil experience of guys on this forum hasn't been good IMO. I've run the Pertronix Ignitor 1 module for 15 years though with no problem but I do carry a spare of that as well.
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#18
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About five years ago, I had two Pertronix coils fail me within a period of two years. Luckily I kept my old coil with me in the car and didn't need a tow. Replaced the last Pertronix coil with one from NAPA and no more trouble. Pertronix coil experience of guys on this forum hasn't been good IMO. I've run the Pertronix Ignitor 1 module for 15 years though with no problem but I do carry a spare of that as well.
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The one thing not mentioned above is, parades and long idling are not kind to our vintage cars. I did my last parade about 20 yrs ago. The novelity of the exposure disappeared real fast as my temp went up and my left foot went too sleep. You might want to think about this. Dennis
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dlaw7822 (03-27-2017)
#20
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The one thing not mentioned above is, parades and long idling are not kind to our vintage cars. I did my last parade about 20 yrs ago. The novelity of the exposure disappeared real fast as my temp went up and my left foot went too sleep. You might want to think about this. Dennis