[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by marc hildebrant

Group,


Did Ford use a manual spark advance to save money, or did he use it because the fuels were so poor in the 1920's that it was impossible to develop one advance curve for all types of gas ?

Marc

Henry looked at the Model A as an evolution of basic car design, and also as a car to replace the Model T.

Just like the Model T, the Model A had to be economical to purchase, easy to use, realibilable and simple to maintain. Model T owners were very fimiliar with manually adjusting the timing as were most other car owners of the day. In 1928, Automatic spark advance was fairly new and mostly found on the more expensive cars.

Most mechanics understood the manual timing mechanism and most mechanics could set the basic timing of an engine, but a lot did not understand the automatic advance mechanism and if they did, did not necessarially have the tools to check it for proper operation and repair it when necessary.

By 1932, the public was demanding more features in their transportation and also there were more women drivers that wanted an easier car to drive. I think by then, most manufacturers had gone to a centrifical advance mechanism for their passanger cars.

Gasoline still varied a lot but by this time, "Regular" Gas was consistant enough that a basic advance curve could be built into the distributor that generally worked well for most situations. Actually, the curve in the early Flat Head V-8s was quite good, even by todays standards. The dealer or a good mechanic could adjust the initial timing a bit to compensate for really poor fuel or high altitude operation.

As far as operating a Model A, when the initial timing is properly set, you push the spark lever all the way UP for starting, about half to two thirds way down for stop and go traffic and slow running around town and all the way down for "the open road". This may not always be optimum but the engine will usually run just fine.

One of the main reasons Henry came out with the V-8 was Chevrolet already had a 6 Cyl. which was very smooth and "civilized". The '32 "Model B" was originally just supposed to be an evolution of the Model A with a "refined" 4 Cyl. Engine but in order to offer a competative product, Henry had to do something to counter the 6 Cyl. Chevrolet.

Just some thoughts on the subject.

Chris