Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

So today I got to do something entirely different at work. A while back a young mobile mechanic I know was working on a '47 ford flatbed in a barn on an old waterfront estate. He was hired by the 42 year old grandson of the gentleman who had it restored in 1974. I had seen the truck briefly about 30 years ago when I built cabinets for the folks. This mechanic had been trained at an Audi dealership and he was not familiar with carbs and distributors so he brought them over to my shop one weekend. I sent them to Charlie NY and they returned all new.
Last Saturday I took the parts and some wire and a temporary fuel tank, fresh battery etc etc to the barn and met the current owner. The barn is huge but has no lighting and few windows so work was by a clip lamp and a good flashlight.The truck had an electric fuel pump and 12 v alternator. I pulled the plugs added mmo, cranked it on and off. Got pressure on the manual op gauge. Installed carbureuter and distributor, new plug wires and then had to high tail it home for a birthday dinner engagement. Today I returned with a few things I needed such as a new low pressure electric fuel pump as the old one was full of ancient gas and crusty. Hooked up the outboard poly tank and an inline filter, got a good squirt from the accelerator pump nozzles, but no spark. The existing napa coil had looked ok at a glance, but when I pulled it up from the bracket it was labled 6V. Hmmm could be a problem. Still I had to look down into the dark abyss between the radiator and engine to see if I forgot to hook up the wire. The grandson was helping me so we were both peering down there with a flash light. The wire was on and tight, but what was that shiny circular thing down by the crank pulley? Previously I had noticed the new bushing Charlie had installed at the drive end about the same size, but it looked more 'bronze' than the silvery thing gleaming against dirty splash pan. We both saw it and neither of us could reach it so I stood on the bumper and hooked it with a finger and as I felt it I realized what it was.....
Last Monday I discovered that my wedding band had disappeared from my finger. Losing 20 lbs will do that.... I had no Idea where or when it may have fallen off. Could have been weeks ago and I had been Many different places. I scoured my vehicles, shops house etc, but knew it was a longshot. I felt really bad telling my wife so I hadn't yet. Tonight she enjoyed hearing the story and she added that if we had gotten spark we never would have peered down there with a flashlight and there it would be for the next generation to discover. (or on the road) It was a good day. Tomorrow I return with a coil and my ring in my watch pocket until I get it resized. Will regular plumber's solder work or do I need to get some kinda silver solder? I think it's white gold. I do have a good sharp blade in my hacksaw already. I think it's a lenox....... Pray for spark.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

It’s always a good day to have one of GB Sisson’s stories to read.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Wow. Glad you found it, GB.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Good story!

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Years ago I stopped wearing my wedding ring after I did some under hood arc welding when I grounded a hot wire with it. Just a thought.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I still wear mine (nearly always) but oh my, I so can relate to your story. Last year, checking the fence line (hot wire) I got too close, and the power arced to my finger. Probably a good three inches away. Right to my knees I'd went.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I have heard of guys accidently peeing on an electric fence... Yikes..... And BAT, I was trying to figure out how the ring was hotted up by arc welding until I realized the ring WAS the welder. OUCH!!! on both of you !

My jobsite is amazing and even has a lift!

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

My friend burnt his finger badly when he accidently shorted a battery with his ring being part of the circuit. My son's friend lost a finger when he let go of a bar he was hanging on and his ring snagged onto something.
My wedding ring remains in my bedside cabinet where it has been for the last 30 plus years.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

When I was in the service, a Maxillo-facial surgeon I usually assisted did the same thing as Mart's friend when he was checking for a loose wire on a GM solenoid. A lot of amps and heat real fast. The Colonel was out of action for a while. Gold is an EXCELLENT conductor.
Gary, did you go buy a lottery ticket on the way home after finding your ring?

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

At least the ring was not in your nose (married almost 35 years)
I have a friend who spent a half hour looking for a half inch wrench while it was in his hand.
Now that I am 75 I can sympathize with that story

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

GB, You have very understanding wife . Congrats, Tim

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Another good story from GB. Also, I have an antique lift exactly like that ! I was so proud the day I got it, and yet 30 years later I have still not set it up ! Crazy !!

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Cousin was running the grader/snowplow and swung down out of the cab and his ring hooked on something and stripped the meat off his finger. That's when I quit wearing mine and it sits in the jewelry box on the dresser.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I had a piece of MIG slag land on my ring and gold, being an excellent conductor, heated up so quickly it burnt my finger really badly. Serves me right for trying to do a "quick" weld job.

I've also lost and found my wedding ring twice.

1st time: Came off my finger while playing with it while driving down a two lane road. I remember hearing the ding, ding, ding as it bounced on the road. I stopped and found it laying on the white fog stripe.

2nd time: I built a huge dry stack rock wall. There was 25 ton of stone all in a pile. While working, my ring came off and I didn't notice until the end of the day. Later in the week, I picked up a rock and there is was. Truly needle in a haystack type of thing.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

And Now, For the Rest of the Story......
Went back to the barn yesterday. Keep in mind this barn is a good 50 minute drive each way. I live on the far Eastern end of Orcas Island and it's out on the Western tip. As far as it gets from here. I brought my new napa coil and we hooked it up. Still no spark. Re-checked every connection and found nothing obvious. Pulled the distributor, took it out into the sunshine and looked closely for anything that looked out of order to the eye. Looked perfect. My helper said it looked like it was assembled by a surgeon. I have a box with 6 or 7 untested 59 ab style distributors here in my shop. They came from dead trucks, parts trucks, and cracked blocks I dragged home. I decided to build a testing apparatus set up on the tailgate of my Foyota, as all my flat spaces are occupied.... I like the deep cycle/marine starting batteries for their extra stud terminal. I made up an 'L' bracket for the neg stud and bolted one ear of a distributor to it. Holder and ground combined. Zip tied the coil to the batteries handle and ran it's neg terminal to the distributor. I decided to test one of the 'unknowns' until I found one I could use for a control sample. I already knew my rebuilt one didn't spark. What do ya know?! First one threw a fat spark at 3/8", perhaps even 1/2". Very audible and the air had the aroma of ozone. Next one was a dud. Third was right up there with the first. This is fun.... OK, time for the big test. My 'Ignition Switch' was wrapping a stripped wire around the pos battery stud. On the first three testers this operation created the normal sparking one might expect, but the rebuilt showed no arcing even when I tried to produce it. I spun the shaft and as expected, no spark. I got to looking at the nice paint job Charlie had laid down and the word 'ground' came to mind..... Sanded tie ear all shiny and got my first spark. Sanded the opposite ear where my coil wire arcs and voila! Fat spark, audible snap, and wafting ozone. Charlie gave me his full blessing for me to share this with you all, and he requests that I send his friends on the Barn a hearty Hello!

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

"Went back to the barn yesterday. Keep in mind this barn is a good 50 minute drive each way. I live on the far Eastern end of Orcas Island and it's out on the Western tip." - GB Sisson

https://images.fineartamerica.com/im...-middleton.jpg

https://www.lcsd.wednet.edu/cms/lib/.../orcasmap3.gif

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Wow! That looks cool! Almost like a pirate's treasure map.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

How come GB's home is not marked as a "tourist attraction " ?

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

On the ring solder question, there are many different alloys of silver, gold, and the in between mixes. Jeweler's keep all sorts of solders. Some prefer the paste with an alloy & flux mix and some prefer solder wire and separate flux. Some use solder chips too. It just depends on the project at hand as to what type works best.for the individual. I have a pretty good supply for the different projects I do now and then.

In the army, they showed us the horror films about rings & wrist watches. I got burned by a watch band.when I was a kid. The last time I wore a watch was just before my military discharge. Once was enough for me. The ring comes off and into the tool box before I turn a wrench.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

A group of us was vacationing at Lake Havasu on the Colorado River probably 25 years ago. One of the women jumped off a boat that was moored just off shore. She caught her wedding ring on one of the snaps for the boat cover. Ripped he ring finger off at the joint. We recovered the finger but the ring slipped off on the way to the surface never to be found. Unfortunately the finger couldn't be reattached due to the jagged nature of the tear. Kinda of put a damper on the vacation.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

As far as the 'Treasure Map' .....About 20 years ago I was set up at the antique tractor/gas engine/steam threshing show at Lynden on the mainland. I was introduced to a guy in his late 80s that grew up in Doe Bay, which is where my place is. He asked me 'where abouts?'. I told him I was in the draw (the holler) above Doe Bay just a few yards above the old concrete water tank. He knew just where that was and commenced to tell me a story about 2 bachelor brothers who staked a claim and started digging a gold mine in that draw as it was an old stream bed. One of the brothers got appendecidis and was laid across their mule and then off to Eastsound, but he died in the way. He also told me that when they were logging up there in the forties, the property owner had it filled in as it was a safety hazzard. We have looked and definately found piled rock but nothing else. Our property is right below the SE corner of Moran State Park. The barn in my story is out past Deer Harbor.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Ok, Ok stop! :) My ring is now in a desk drawer for safe keeping, or when I gain the 20 back....

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

OK......I'll bite....wth is a "crab distributor" ? Or am I just a dumb bunny?

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Because somebody would get crushed under a pile of reclaimed beams, flathead blocks or rusty split rims. Or worse yet, get a big old glob of grease on their designer mountain climbing jacket........

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

1942-46 FORD FLATHEAD rebuilt "crab" distributor
https://external-content.duckduckgo....f9c&ipo=images

https://www.picclickimg.com/i5QAAOSw...butor-1946.jpg

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I met a truck driver with a missing finger, he told me he jumped off the front bumper, after cleaning the windshield on his big rig, his wedding band caught on the wiper arm and chopped off his finger. He said he didn’t even realize it happened until he saw the blood dripping.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Now that's interesting......never seen one. :eek:

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

when will you guys learn to remove your rings & watches when working on cars. i have seen guys loose fingers & some nasty wrist burns.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I haven't had my ring off in ages. Lately, I've played with it and it felt as if I'd never get it off. Anyway, after reading the horror stories above, I used some liquid soap and water and worked on it until it finally got over my fat knuckle. It's now safe in my jewelry box on the dresser. I guess I'm going to have to start taking off my watch too!

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

The crab distributors appeared after WW2 and were used through '48.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Do any of you run the factory 59ab steel conduits from rabbit ear distributors when you switch to the crab cap? I haven't tried it but I can attest to the fact that it takes a bunch of ugly zip ties to just go commando from the crab cap to the spark plugs.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

I use the factory tubes, helps keep it all neat and tidy !

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Same. Really cleans things up

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Ugly zip ties and commando for me I'm afraid.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Still one day of the weekend left. Maybe I'll bust out a set of those conduits for the woodie. Been meaning to clean up the engine compartment of loose ends. Do I incorporate the rubber sleve that went to the rabbit ear cap?

AND, drumroll please , the Jailbar flatbed roared to life and required no adjustments whatsoever to idle smooth as silk. Clutch was stuck pretty bad, but some agressive shifting and hand braking broke it free once I hit the dirt road. The new owner (grandson) rode shotgun at first and was the hand-brake man. After one lap he took over with his two boys alongside him. After dinner tonight I got a text from him...."I can't stop joyriding back and forth." The old farm has at least ten acres with some dirt roads in a loop. Looks like the brakes will be next. The master was bone dry and the pedal is frozen. Nothing I haven't seen before in this damp climate and with 1974 tabs, it's a no brainer that I'll just order new everything. The agreement is HE does the work and I guide him. I don't do other folk's brakes.....

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...4&d=1668307573

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...6&d=1668307622

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...5&d=1668307598

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

The crab cap was a short lived item due to the start of WWII. I always referred to the post war distributor as the rabbit ear design due to the cap shape with the bail. It can be converted for the crab cap pretty easily though. For a number of years the rabbit ear cap was not available in parts stores so a lot of folks converted them to the crab.

The conduits look nice but they can promote cross firing after the high tension leads deteriorate to some extent. I've seen some inventive ways of attaching the crab cap high tension leads. Some folks use the separated individual tube designs to direct the leads and others used clip type stand offs on the manifold to keep the wires separated. Most of these set ups require custom fabricated leads.

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

Nice lookin truck GB !

Re: Bushing dropped out of crab distributor?
 

They appeared first in 1942.