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05-07-2021, 03:22 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Southern Illinois....NOT Chicago!
Posts: 26
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1949 Merc distributor maintenance
After inheriting grandpas car last year I knew plug wires and some preventative maint on the distributor was on the short list of up coming work. Last Saturday on the way home from the boys soccer game I had a plug wire boot fall off. They are all rotted away so I making my list of supplies I need. I would like to go through the distributor and replace the points and confessor, cap and rotor and wondered what else I should do the distributor while I did all this other work. Also what are the preferred points and condenser for this car. The car is stock and just fun to drive. Thanks for any advise, let me know if you have any questions.
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05-07-2021, 07:38 PM | #2 |
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Location: 36 miles north of Albany NY
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
I think NAPA has everything for your ‘49.
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05-07-2021, 08:22 PM | #3 |
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Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
Boots for some reason, are difficult to find, as were distributor and spark plug terminals.
I was finally able to find what I needed at "The Brillman Company". NAPA (at least my local store) had NO traditional ignition terminals. |
05-07-2021, 08:41 PM | #4 |
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
I would advise you to re-use the old condenser. There are lot of bad condensers out there, so if you have one that works ok don't change it.
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05-07-2021, 08:55 PM | #5 |
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Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
Very good advice about the condenser. Back in the day, the "Rule of Thumb" was to not change the condenser unless there was abnormal wear on the points.
I guess there really IS nothing new. |
05-07-2021, 09:43 PM | #6 |
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
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05-07-2021, 10:12 PM | #7 |
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
Marv,
Don't forget the vac diaphragm can, Napa used to have them...if not VanPelt has the best ones. Charlie ny |
05-08-2021, 07:06 AM | #8 |
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Location: ohio
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
I would check the wire under the points plate too. They can rub the insulation away & shut you down. Took a few days to figure that out......
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05-08-2021, 07:33 AM | #9 |
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Join Date: May 2010
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
NAPA sometimes sells plug wire (Wire core such as Packard 440) so they may also have rubber boots, if not Brillman sells wire, terminals and boots.
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05-08-2021, 07:34 AM | #10 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,260
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
I had one that broke inside the insulation. That one took a few weeks to figure out. Since the insulation was intact, it was very intermittent.
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05-08-2021, 08:59 AM | #11 |
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Location: East Hartford, Ct
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
Napa does indeed sell a universal 7mm plug wire set with plug ends/boots installed.
The distributor side has to be cut to length as necessary and ends/boots installed.
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05-08-2021, 09:06 AM | #12 |
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Southern Illinois....NOT Chicago!
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
Charlie, I did replace the vacuum diaphragm last fall when I was trying to get the timing set. Grandpa had a new one in the in one of the MANY boxes of parts I brought home. I also have a spare distributor but the mount for the diaphragm was broke off. Any ideas on what I can do with that one?
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05-08-2021, 09:32 AM | #13 |
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Location: San Antonio, Texas
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Re: 1949 Merc distributor maintenance
There may be a few parts left there for salvage but the broken body won't likely be worth repair efforts. Your 1949 likely has the old cast iron 7RA long body distributor that was used before the change over in 1950 to the short body aluminum OCM-12127 distributor. There are likely still plenty of those old distributor bodies out there for replacement parts since they were used in pickups & trucks starting in 1948 and in cars and trucks in 1949. Some of the earlier 1950 models may have them but I think Ford eventually changed most cars over the the later type distributor. The trucks likely used them longer.
Engines do get changed out though so there is always a possibility that it may have the later distributor and aluminum timing gear cover that works with it. |
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