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1956 Panhead

I have scanned through the pdf I sent you, and see no reference to the spring shown in your pix. Can the ignition circuit breaker unit be rotated by hand? Is it being held in the full advanced mode by the spring? When you looked under the cap, was there any sort of mechanical advance mechanism (weights that are probably spring loaded but will move with increasing centripetal force?). Or does it look like this bike is supposed to have the manual advance/retard mechanism on it. I do not think the spring is "an additional ground". You should have a cable that does that - item 12 or 12A in Fig. 5F-2.

TQ
 
Hey TQ, the unit can be rotated by hand. and nothing under the cap but the points and condenser (no weights). I think you are right when you say the spring is an add on. when i rotate against the spring ( Clockwise ) the bike wants to die on me. but i have to have it rotated like this to start the bike. as soon as it fires up i turn it towards the spring (counter clockwise) to keep it running. my guess is the spring was added to keep it from moving while riding. on a side note when i went to order the points for the bike i found out that they are the same as a 65 chevy bel air. who knew.
 
The reason I mentioned the spring being used as an extra grounding point is because in the past when working on a similar circuit breaker I found it was difficult to maintain a good ground when adjusting the timing, this was usually due to loosing off the retaining bolt and the accumulation of grime,etc. How I got around this was to run an extra ground from the breaker to the engine or frame. I usually used a long piece of electrical wire, it has to be long enough to allow for the slight rotation of the breaker when setting the timing. On one occasion I did use a spring similar to the one in the pic as this would stretch and contract as you rotated the breaker while maintaining a good ground, it also looked better and could be left in situ. I'm not saying that this is the case in this particular example but the thought did cross my mind so I thought I would throw it your way. The only other reason I can think of for having the spring there is, as you have already pointed out, to hold the manual advance/retard lever in place.:D. Nice bike, are they difficult to come across?
 
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newpanheader said:
Hey TQ, the unit can be rotated by hand. and nothing under the cap but the points and condenser (no weights). I think you are right when you say the spring is an add on. when i rotate against the spring ( Clockwise ) the bike wants to die on me. but i have to have it rotated like this to start the bike. as soon as it fires up i turn it towards the spring (counter clockwise) to keep it running. my guess is the spring was added to keep it from moving while riding. on a side note when i went to order the points for the bike i found out that they are the same as a 65 chevy bel air. who knew.
Click to expand...

OK. So you have the single points system with the manual timing adjust. Sounds like your original system is long gone. So the spring is there to keep the spark ignition circuit breaker in full advanced. You would have to retard the spark (turn the unit clockwise) to start it, and then allow the unit to advance once you want to run.

Here is a website that is dedicated to Pans and Flatheads. The post below is talking specifically about YOUR problem. Check it out:

The Panhead View topic - Manual spark advance

These guys are mostly ALL dealing with the same problems you are, or hopefully have solved some of the problems you are facing now.

TQ
 
so i worked on the bike today and figured out that the pipe clamp was not tight enough so tightened that up and she fired right up on the first kick. rode her around town and no more backfiring. so happy to have my baby runnin like she should. can't wait to show her off. anyone know of any good hangouts in central FL?
 
Glad to hear you got your '56 Pan sorted...as you may have guessed, I agree with most...keep her original, I am not sure about the comment in the other PAN website, "--women tearing their clothes off because it is "manly" to have manual advance/retard timing controls..." but ya never know...! :D
 
newpanheader said:
so i worked on the bike today and figured out that the pipe clamp was not tight enough so tightened that up and she fired right up on the first kick. rode her around town and no more backfiring. so happy to have my baby runnin like she should. can't wait to show her off. anyone know of any good hangouts in central FL?
Click to expand...

Excellent!! I am glad she is on the road and doing right.

When you get your manual, start going through it doing a full set of maintenance procedures. Then go through each system inspecting it against the book to assess the condition of each. Brakes, fluids, fuel system, charging, ignition, etc.

TQ
 
Wow, where are all you lucky Lou's getting your crazy ol' stuff? All I can say is, keep them as original as possible. Points ignitions are fine, simple and stone ax type reliable. Yeah things wear out, but points are easy, and quick. And having a kicker while possibly a "bruising" experience was a lot easier to start when in tune and running right than the old English bike starting sequence around the same time.
 
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