1959 Falcon proving to be a challenge

I have recently purchased a 1959 Francis Barnett Falcon with a 197cc 2 stroke Villiers engine. Initially she was running erratically and cutting out due to overheating (I thought!!!) Now however it is not running at all. I have no spark on the points, no spark on the spark plug.
Have fitted a new ignition coil, a new condenser, a new spark plug and a new HT lead, now plan on fitting a new battery, does anyone think that will help? My challenge is turning in to a nightmare!!!
Have checked carburetor and it seems to be working fine, have cleaned out the petrol tank. The magnets on the flywheel look clean and seem ok but have been told they may need re-magnetizing!!!! Am running out of ideas!!!
Is there anyone out there who can help me get this old girl running again please???

What makes you think it was overheating? Something must be very wrong if it is. I am not to sure how these are wired up but unless it has an emergencey setting on the switch (so it uses the generator and not the battery for the spark) you will have to trace the wiring back. If you can show a copy of the wiring dirgram on line I will try to guide you through it. I assume your batery is good?

Regards Ken

Hi,unless someone has wired your ignition to be battery powered fitting a new battery will have no effect,the villiers powered falcon has flywheel generated ignition independent of the battery as a original equipmentJH

kerabo wrote:What makes you think it was overheating? Something must be very wrong if it is. I am not to sure how these are wired up but unless it has an emergencey setting on the switch (so it uses the generator and not the battery for the spark) you will have to trace the wiring back. If you can show a copy of the wiring dirgram on line I will try to guide you through it. I assume your batery is good?

Regards Ken

The reason I thought it was overheating was that after travelling for about half a mile it would stop. Then I either had to wait for it to cool down or change the spark plug to get it going again. There is no switch on this model, I start it (or not.....) with the kick start and stall it to stop. Don't have a wiring diagram but could get the wife to take some pics if that would be any good.

piston 197 wrote:Hi,unless someone has wired your ignition to be battery powered fitting a new battery will have no effect,the villiers powered falcon has flywheel generated ignition independent of the battery as a original equipmentJH

Do you think I may have disturbed the polarity or something by removing the fly wheel. I had spark until I took the fly wheel off, now I have nothing!!!!

You will have to start at the begining and go through it in an organised fashion. First lets see if someone has a wiring diagram they can put on line then we can guide you through it.
Do you have a voltmeter for testing?

Regards Ken

The polarity of the magnets cannot be altered by taking off and removing the flywheel,assuming the flywheel is still keyed onto the taper shaft,everything will be as it was,have you put the points cam on the right way round (with directional arrow to the outside and pointing in the direction of engine rotation??) JH

Thanks Ken, will keep my fingers crossed re the wiring diagram, can get hold of a volt meter for testing.
Thanks also JH, have re-assembled everything as descrbed but still not a bit of spark, hence my total frustration.... :confused:Cheers DG

I presume you are talking about the Villiers 10E engine. As Piston 197 says, the magneto wiring is so simple that you do not need a wiring diagram. I do have a copy of it, but it won't help you (but please send me a PM with your email address for a copy). You should have a copy of the Falcon 81 Instruction Book - I am sure the FBOC will be able to provide this for you - this provides a fault finding chart. Sandy Ross

Hello, just a thought but have you checked that the h.t. lead is in position when screwed in touching the contact?

I have checked the HT lead connection and it is good and true, but still no spark. Am going to try another new ignition coil and if that doesn't work, well I don't know then

Hi, There is one simple thing you could try. It's the copper connecting strip at the back of the points, this has a tendency to corrode. What you need to do is remove the small spring, then clean both the copper strip and the back of the points where they come into contact with each other. Making a good contact here will improve the spark and in turn improve starting. Mike