With these old motors, the very least you should be doing with a fresh acquisition is to polish the points with 400 to 600 grit paper and make sure all oxidization or dirt is removed. Spray them with electrical contact cleaner and wipe a business card or sheet of white paper between them afterward, the card or paper should be clean after being pulled thru the points. Check the point gap and make sure the contact surfaces are as parallel to each other as possible. FWIW I don’t even bother checking resistance or continuity until I test it for spark with clean points. since I have a Stevens tester, I’ll run the condenser through the short/leakage test. There are very few coils I haven’t been able to wake up doing what I just described. Some coils, you know they’re crap as soon as you look at them ( i.e classic OMC or Skintillas) but most antique coils (aside from some Eisemann coils) will still work if the points and condenser are good and the wiring connections are sound. The Evinrude-Elto coils of the 30’s have a good record of longevity as long as they’re not physically damaged. one thing about a Foldlight ignition – make sure the wires are in good condition and won’t break loose if the motor starts up. That coil is susceptible to failure if the motor is running and a lead breaks off somewhere; the coil will almost certainly suffer an instant death if that happens. Trust me on that one.
PM T2
He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...
