1932 Ford V8 distributor

[Ian NZ]

In the Canadian Parts catalog it lists the 18-6019-B front timing gear cover is the same for 1932-38 Ford V8 models is this correct? David Rehors 1932 book has some interesting information on this and 1932 distributors, therefor when an original 1932 distributor is fitted to this cover it should have two gaskets as per photo.The inside round cork gasket would compress and would hold the 1932 distributor spark advance housing in place with the distributor body, otherwise the housing would only be held to the distributor body with the breaker plate adjustment screw. as the later model V8 distributors have a different set up with a flange on the spark advance housing sitting up to the face of the front cover.
The photo shows the face of the spark advance housing which shows the end of the round locating face which is about 3/8' wide, looking at the photo, and apparently on some 1932 distributors it is 3/16" wide, is that correct.
I have modified a later 1934 spark advance housing by turning off the front outside flange so it will fit into the distributor 1932 body as the original housings are hard to obtain.

[Andy]

My stuff looks like your pics. The advance assy sticks out of the housing about 3/16".
I have two front covers off original blocks and another from somwear. The dist only wants to fit one of the ones off the original blocks. They all look identical. I am going to clear the register diameters and see if all will fit.

[DavidG]

Original '32 spark advance housings came in two forms, one made of die cast zinc alloy and the other made of cast iron. Some of the die cast versions seem to have swollen somewhat over the years and won't fit into some of the timing gear covers without a little help from some emery cloth.

Your .060 gasket looks to be a bit thick. The originals were paper and not that thick.

A timing gear cover with its part number cast in is rarely encountered as most are plain without any cast-in markings. The photo below on the left is of a 18-6019-A timing gear cover that was used only briefly near the start of '32 V-8 engine production. The other photo is of the very first cover with four bolt holes to mount the distributor, which was equally short lived. It's somewhat interesting that only two part numbers existed for three different covers.

[Bruce Lancaster]

What is that carb?? Somewhere around here I have an old magazine picture of an early '32 engine with a funny carb..."Zenith" just discernible on the grainy picture.

[Ian NZ]

On my set up, when the distributor sits up against the face with no gaskets there is 0.035" clearance at back where the distributor fits into the housing, I have placed a round 0.060" cork gasket which can compress up to 0.030" to give it a bit of tension on the spark advance housing in the distributor body and i have then placed 0.010 gasket on the face where the distributor bolts on which brings back the cork gasket thickness to 0.035 to give it tension on the advance housing bolted onto the 18-6019-B front cover.
Have you seen the 1932 distributors with the 3/16" wide round locating face the one in the photo looks about 3/8'

[DavidG]

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There's an Ford Archives' photo of a early prototype engine with the starter motor on top of the flywheel housing and exhaust outlets at both the front and back of the block and the carburetor is a black downdraft Zenith. There's no evidence that it made it past the prototype stage in terms of Ford using it for production purposes. I'm not sure that the carburetor in the photo is indeed the same type as that in the prototype engine photo.

[DavidG]

Ian,

Do you mean in your photo? (I assume that you are referring to the flat area on the spark advance housing immediately adjacent to its circumference.)

[Ian NZ]

David,

Yes that is right, an owner of a 32 distributor here said that the flat area on the spark advance housing on his distributor was about 3/16" wide, yet the one in the photo is a lot wider.

[Terry,OH]

With the vent tube fitting in the notch in the housing the rear bearing retainer cover can not rotate nor can it move in or out. The small hole on the bearing retainer needs oil to lube the rear bushing and once lubed by the oil from the timing gears the oil has to be able to drain back to the timing gear area unrestricted. I do not believe the .060" cork gasket is proper.

[DavidG]

Terry is correct, the cork gasket shown in Ian's photo is too wide in addition to being perhaps too thick. Note the drain hole in my photo of an early 3-bolt timing gear cover. The gasket should not be wide enough to block that hole. (Note also that the 4-bolt cover did not have a drain hole which suggests that was one of the reasons that design was quickly superseded and why all of those timing gear covers and matching distributors were recalled.)

As for the width of the flat area on the spark advance housing, I'm away from my car stuff until late next month or early May so I cannot check my distributors until then.

[Terry,OH]

Dave: The early four bolt mount front cover acted as the back cover for the distributor. I believe there was no drain hole necessary on the early cover.

[DavidG]

Terry,

I see your point. Thanks.

Quite the treasure you have there as the survivors of the recall campaign are few and far between!

[Ian NZ]

David, you are quite correct that cork gasket is too wide it should be about 13/32" wide according to my timing gear cover, but the drain hole just runs vertically behind the face on that corner on my cover.
I would not rely on the vent tube or the breaker plate screw to hold the spark advance housing to the distributor body, why does the housing have a flat area about 3/8" wide at the back of it, I still think it should have a gasket there to take up difference.

[DavidG]

It should have a gasket, but only '32 distributors used that inserted gasket, not the later distributors.

The chassis parts catalogues of the period are both helpful and screwed up at the same time. The U.S. December 20, 1932 issue illustration of the parts of the distributor shows the inner gasket as 18-12143 and the outer gasket (with three holes in it for the attachment bolts to the timing gear cover) as 18-12134. Both gaskets are shown in the illustration of distributor components on page 49, but the part number captions are inconsistent with the parts list on page 50. In the listing, 18-12134 is named "gasket (distributor housing)" and 18-12143 is named "gasket (distributor base)". That catalogue does correctly list both the housing and base in both the illustration and in the listing. (The housing, 18-12124, is the spark advance housing that is the topic of this thread and the base, 18-12130, is the cast aluminum distributor outer shell.) The error in the illustration is corrected in the '34 edition of the catalogue as 18-12143 is shown as the part number for the distributor base or outer shell to timing gear cover gasket. Curiously, however, that catalogue does not list the 18-12134 gasket for the spark advance housing.

In the Canadian September 1, 1932 catalogue, there's no illustration so that error is not repeated, but another takes its place in the listing where the part numbers for the oiler and the inner gasket are reversed which is obvious given the 18 prefix for the oiler and a B prefix for the gasket.

It is always refreshing to encounter yet another example of the frailty of human enterprise. Hopefully that fact of life will be recalled before the world gets too carried away with the idea of driver-less cars.

[Ian NZ]

David, Thanks very much for the information, it is very interesting, its something else we have learnt about 1932 Fords. I have been involved in several of them.
The simple things of life are hard to find.

[Ian NZ]

I have revised the first photo of the gaskets for attaching the 1932 distributor to the timing cover.