1941 Ford 6 cylinder electronic distributor source?

[L78CHEVELLE]

I have a daily driver 1941 Ford pickup with the original 6 cylinder. It was converted to 12 volt when I got it and uses the original distributor with a voltage resistor. Water is effecting the distributor in the mornings of heavy dew and when I drive it in the rain. I want to go to electronics and get rid of the points and the voltage resistor, but can not find a source that can produce a electronic distributor for a 1941 to 1948 6 cylinder distributor. My best source in the past for ignition problems has been Jim at Bubbas Hot Rod Shop. I contacted Jim by email and he said for me to give him a couple of days and he would come up with one. It has been 2 weeks now and he does not respond to my emails asking about any progress. Heavy dew this morning and my truck won't start until up in the day. CAN ANY ONE HELP OR HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS?

[51 MERC-CT]

Thought that there were spray on products that you could coat the inside of distributor and cap to eliminate moisture problems.
Also the voltage resistor will still be used for the coil.

[41Joe]

I know the Pertronix unit for the V8 Crab distributor is a lobe sensor type, meaning it doesn't use the magnetic collar that fits over the lobes. You might be able to make that style fit your distributor.

[corvette8n]

Electronics don't like moisture that much either, there must be a 1941 farmer fix somewhere.

[Frank Miller]

Try replacing the cap, rotor and wires. The moisture in the air is probably causing a voltage leak on the high tension side. Electronic ignition will not correct or compensate for this.

[cmbrucew]

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Use WD40
Spray inside and out. Rinse all moisture out from inside the cap leaving the oily film on the wires and caps.
Bruce

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by L78CHEVELLE

I have a daily driver 1941 Ford pickup with the original 6 cylinder. It was converted to 12 volt when I got it and uses the original distributor with a voltage resistor. Water is effecting the distributor in the mornings of heavy dew and when I drive it in the rain. I want to go to electronics and get rid of the points and the voltage resistor, but can not find a source that can produce a electronic distributor for a 1941 to 1948 6 cylinder distributor. My best source in the past for ignition problems has been Jim at Bubbas Hot Rod Shop. I contacted Jim by email and he said for me to give him a couple of days and he would come up with one. It has been 2 weeks now and he does not respond to my emails asking about any progress. Heavy dew this morning and my truck won't start until up in the day. CAN ANY ONE HELP OR HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS?

I just got back from a swap meet and havent had the time to deal with this . I need to grab a six cylinder core and use a v8 set up seeing on a machine if i can trigger 6 cylinders off the lobes etc. However the others are correct electronics WONT help the moisture issues you are having. In the mean time spray every thing with wd40 and hang in there!
In reality electronics will make the problem worse.....trying to help but ya got be somewhat patient...

[rotorwrench]

The G model 6 came out that year and while quite a few were manufactured for cars, the pickup production was very rare. I don't know what the production figures were but it was low since it was a mid year change and production in 1942 mostly went to the military. I've seen the caps that were like a crab cap on the early G 6 and it may have had problems. It is very important that the distributor have good sealing for the distributor cap. The distributor gasket kits include a cap gasket. It seems like FoMoCo developed a different cap for the wartime G8T trucks with the 226 engine but I'm not certain of this. Ford solved the problem in 1947 when they introduced the H model 6 but I realize this is of no consolation to G 6 owners.

[L78CHEVELLE]

You the man Jim. Good to hear from you. You are the only source I trust enough to ask for a solution to this problem. Getting the WD-40 on the inside and outside of the cap today. Let me know when you have an electronic distributor prepared.

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Bingo , we can make it work. I dug up (actually tripped over it doing another job) a six cylinder two bolt crab distributor. Took it apart and with just a couple changes it will accept the pertronixs module , the six cylinder cam and drive shaft is a little different from the v8 11A. But it works ! Been running on the machine all morning......
12 volt negative ground ready to run would be $350 and come with correct matching coil........

[Bruce Lancaster]

Another bit: Ford changed from the crab to the enclosed 59 cap to help with condensation problems, according to an article in an ancient garage magazine about new stuff for 1946.
There was a similar change for the 6 cylinder, open cap to more enclosed setup...I actually have one of each lost somewhere in the jungles of my basement but I cannot remember the exact look of the postwar G setup. Research this...it might actually help with the moisture.

[Bruce Lancaster]

And more...found pics in 1946 Service manual and an ancient Echlin catalog.
Postwar cap exits vertically with an upward block that has 7 holes for the secondary wires.
This apparently meets a sort of rubber funnel that groups the wires and runs them into a tubular conduit atop the engine.
My unverified assumption is that you would need to swap cap, rotor, and retainer as with V8...this could be researched in the relevant chassis parts catalog.

[rotorwrench]

That is what I recall about the ones on the WWII military G8T trucks. It looked like the post war V8 set up except it was a single tube set up for a 6 instead of the dual tube set up for the V8. This stuff may be hard to find these days. Even though they made a lot of that stuff for WWII and a lot was surplus out after, the old G-model sixes are getting harder to source parts for. A lot of folks change then over to H-model engines just to they can keep them running on the road. I heard they are a bolt in but I haven't done it so I don't know for sure.

[edhd58]

From what I am reading about the G series 6 distributor, should I be buying an extra distributor and have it rebuilt now so I have it for a spare?

[Vintage Copper 47]

I was wondering the same thing.. have a spare distributor

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