I have heard of that problem starting at the end of the cycle but cant remember what the root cause is. I better not say, but I will?? Was thinking electrical but might be valve timing too?? Those are not educated remarks, just shots in the dark. Someone like MACK or Dr. Allis should be able to solve that one for you. I might try adjusting the timing because its easy to do. (turning distributor after marking current location)

Regards,

 Chris

Dusty

Could be either bad ground problems, connection issue, or the Armature goin' south in the Starter which is pulling most of the current from your Battery. That split second you let go of the Starter rod sends just enough current to energize the ignition circuit allowing the engine to fire. Installing an E.I. will not help the situation as Mack mentioned. The E.I. needs at least 4V's to fire off. Once you get the cranking circuit rectified, the ole' girl will probably fire right up! You can then install an E.I. if you want. They do work great. We sell a boat load of em'. Just make sure you have carbon core spark plug wires in place before you install the E.I.  A stray spike off a set of solid core plug wires can take the electronic module out. The Blaster coil is an optional thing. The E.I.'s are designed to work with the stock coils. Doesn't hurt thought to throw a little extra fire in the hole. Totally and option there. We have the E.I.'s in stock along with the correct spark plug wires. We also offer Starter and Generator services. In the Battery cable department for 6V systems, bigger can work out to be better, but 1 gauge is the norm for 6V systems.  HTH

Steve@B&B

As others have suggested, the problem here is that your engine is not getting spark WHILE the starter motor is cranking.

Silly trick-  Make about a 10 ft jumper wire with some 14ga wire and two good alligator clips.  Clip one to the body of the ignition coil, and the other to the battery's grounded post.  If the engine starts fine, your problem is either the ground STRAP, or sold connections at the distributor clamp, and between the engine and torque tube.  By bypassing the chassis ground, you have a suitable path for current flow from coil back to battery.

If that has no effect, apply the alligator clips to the ignition coil power terminal, and the other to the non-grounded BATTERY terminal, then hit the starter and see if it starts.  If so, then the issue is in the NON_GROUNDED battery cable, or from the battery terminal side, thorugh the ignition switch, to the coil.

Replacing the original mechanical ignition to electronic will likely help, but solving the actual problem (by locating the bad connection or resistive cable) will be much greater long-term value.

A stranded copper wire suffers the characteristic of 'capillary action'... it will draw moisture in liquid or humid form, up into the wire, and cause corrosion to occur without leaving much indication at either end.  To help FIND such corrosion, hold a wire between your hands, and gently flex the wire in one-inch increments.  When you get to a spot that's corroded inside, it'll feel 'crunchy' rather than 'bendy'.  When you find a 'crunchy' point, use a razor knife to cut the insulation in-line with the wire, spread it open, and you'll find fuzzy green contents where there should be lovely copper.  Once the copper has started to corrode, it's resistance rises substantially, and it doesn't take much resistance to cause problems at 6v.

1st, are you using a keyed switch to turn the starter over?  Or using the pull rod that was standard?

I had a keyed starter switch that was doing the same thing.  The problem was the switch traveled too far and didn't make contact for the running/start side.  When the key comes back just a pinch, it hits that other contact and bang, she fires up.  Try a different switch if that is what you have.