Reply to "71 Pantera spark comes and goes?"

Welcome to the forums Al.

The "intermittent" ignition is probably the ignition module. Is it a Ford "Duraspark"? If so, all you need to know to replace the module is the color of the plastic "strain relief" where the wires come out of the module. Replace it with a module having the same color "strain relief".

The OEM fuses and fuse panel are notorious for bad connections ... so when in doubt, give all the fuses a spin or two to help them make contact.

The OEM power to the ignition is routed through the ignition switch, the contacts in the ignition switch are normally in quite bad shape by now. The dirty & charred contacts will create a high resistance path for the current trying to flow to the ignition. The high resistance drops the voltage so much there's hardly enough to operate the ignition. As it heats up the resistance increases, and the ignition stops functioning.So the ignition switch is another possible source for the problem. You can troubleshoot this by running a piece of 12 gage wire directly from the battery to the ignition. If the engine runs OK, suspect the ignition switch. When its time to shut the engine off, just pull the wire off the battery. The ignition switch can be disassembled and cleaned.

-G