Just Won't Start - Completely Stumped

I have a '68 Fury III that won't start. Bought it in the U.S. and shipped it to the USVI. Was PERFECT on the continent. Arrived here and has had nothing but problems. I sense someone along the shipping trail pulled a Ferris Bueller on me, but I'm opting for the benefit of the doubt.

Issue: Won't start. Turns over, fuel pressure is fine, timing is correct. Very faint spark in the plugs and distributor. Has acted as if it wasn't getting enough fuel. Now acts like it's not getting enough spark to ignite the fuel. We are absolutely stumped.

Here's what we've done so far:

Changed:
- Battery
- Plugs
- Condensers
- Ballast resistor
- Coil
- Fuel filters (3x - shippers ran it to fumes and it sucked up a bunch of tank muck)

Rebuilt aftermarket Edelbrock carb (thought the floats might be the issue)

Going to try the voltage regulator next, but frankly not confident.

Anyone got any ideas out there? This is crazy!

Did you change the points?The VR has nothing to do with it running unless the battery is dead.If it sucked junk from the tank Id clean the tank and carb.Try points and setting them to .017.That and check the cap and rotor as it also could be bad from dampness.Coil lead could be a problem also.Rocky

Rebuilt carb, so it's been cleaned. Changed the coil - lead isn't a problem. Will change points. Changed everything else, so why not? lol Cap and rotor are fine. Checked and cleaned up on arrival.

how do the plug wires look?

Make sure the spark at the plug is blue, if it is orange bad coil

Plug wires are clean.

Did you try bypassing the ballast resistor???

Then try a hot wire from batter + to out side of ballast or + side of coil and see if it runs.

Will try bypassing ballast resistor.

Will a bad condenser cause reduced spark in the distributor?

Spark in plugs is orange.

If spark is orange, the car will never start !

The coil is not giving enough current to light up the fuel, happens even with new coils......

And you should have 7 volts at the + terminal of the coil with the key at ignition

Dan

It is a new coil. Should i replace it? The spark at spark plug is also very light or no spark at times.

If the spark is orange, even new coil, replace it, the coil is faulty
Dan

Have you tried to run a wire from thebattery to the + terminal of the coil ?

I tried jumping the ballast and the coil and still didn't start?

Bad coil....what brand is it ?

Now i am thinking plug wires but I don't understand why it would run fine one day and the next not start. Have good spark at points.

Have you tried a battery charger hooked up while cranking the motor even though it is a new battery?

I know you said new plugs, are they still in good shape after all this cranking?

BWD P-Series coil

Change coil, happened to me before too.....
and check for spark color

Don't have battery charger but have had another car jumping while starting. I know it may not give full jumping charge as a charger would but the best I have. The plugs look good and have cleaned them a couple of times even though that may not mean anything.

welcome aboard! We WILL solve this . Take off the coil secondary wire (dist end) & hold it 1/4" from the intake (ground). Take off all wires from the coil positive/neg primary terminals. Jump 12V from the batt to the coil positive pri terminal. With a jumper wire with alligator clips connect one end to the coil neg pri terminal & with the other end make/break contact to ground & see if the coil secondary wire sparks. If good then remove the jumper wire from the neg pri terminal & hookup the thin dist black wire & open/close the points with a screwdriver & see if the coil secondary wire makes sparks

Thanks for all the help. Give me some time and let me see if I can get the car up n running. Will let you all know how the turn out is. Thanks again

Ok
I won't be far..........

Dan

Is it a big block or small block? Big blocks are easy for a vandal to mess with your firing order because the distributor cap is right there up front. Aftermarket ballast resistors often have the wrong Ohm levels. Points and condenser are a good place to start looking. If you rule out spark issues then look for fuel issues. Did some driver high center the car and squish the fuel line along the rocker? If the tank has gunk in it the sender sock will be plugged.
On big blocks the fuel pump push rods can suddenly wear down so that the pump no longer pumps. I've personally seen this many times.

Could it be as simple as a plugged exhaust? Shoving a potato in the tailpipe will make it impossible to start.

Points

Small block. 383 6.3L None of the items you offered seem to be at issue.

LOL Don't mean to laugh, but there's no potato - or bananas or sweet potatoes or tennis balls, et al - lurking in the exhaust. Thank god! lol

Points are the only thing we haven't changed. Have to order them. No one here carries them in stock.

Small block 383? Thats a Chevy motor. Is the US Virgin Islands in the Bermuda Triangle? Maybe thats whats wrong.

Quote:

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Points are the only thing we haven't changed. Have to order them. No one here carries them in stock.

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Clean yours up an reset the gap in the mean time. Maybe someone left the key on during shipping and burned them out?