chevy dizzy for flatheads

[big red 54]

Hey there, was wondering if anyone does these conversions like Bubba has done. Seems he is retired. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have been told by a couple friends about their experiences that pertronix is not worth the trouble and with my tach and s10 t5 trans with electronic speedo there will be much interference with a full electronic dizzy. I will accept any and all suggestions as great info for my new hobby. thanks.

[KiWinUS]

CharlieNY. No longer a member on here. Does amazing work. Someone will have his contact info.

[JayChicago]

Charlie Schwendler
Orchard Park, N.Y.
716 662-9159

[PeteVS]

Cores for the Chevy distributors are becoming rare. It might help if you have one in hand if / when you contact Charlie.

[tubman]

On the subject of distributor cores, you might also consider converting a Mallory "flattop" dual point from an SBC. Charlie did one for me and it works great. Plus, it has a cool factor that the GM distributors don't have.

While Mallory's for flatheads are getting expensive, the SBC units can be had a lot cheaper. The last one I got on eBay was $85.

[solidaxle]

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I did the same as Tubman. Not only does it work well the body sits up a little higher to help clear the belts for the water pumps. You can also get a tach drive which is a good substitute for the Stewart Warner crank drive units.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by solidaxle

I did the same as Tubman. Not only does it work well the body sits up a little higher to help clear the belts for the water pumps. You can also get a tach drive which is a good substitute for the Stewart Warner crank drive units.

On my wish list at Hershey this year was a flattop Mallory with a tach drive. On the last day, found a real nice one with a good cap, rotor, and unsplit trash can condenser for $60.

I also snagged a "crab cap" Mallory for $25. I believe these are marine units. I had some junk 8BA dizzies as well and took the gears off. Just need to box these up and send them to Charlie.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by JayChicago

Charlie Schwendler
Orchard Park, N.Y.
716 662-9159

More CHARLIE NY Contact Info:

[email protected] (716) 440-8952 OR (716) 662-9159

Coop

.

[Krylon32]

I used several of Bubba's converted distributors and have a converted by Charlie distributor in my latest Flathead. Have only test run it at the machine shop for breakin and it worked great.

[hotrodart]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

Cores for the Chevy distributors are becoming rare. It might help if you have one in hand if / when you contact Charlie.

How do you figure they becoming rare? Chevy made those distributors by the millions......I see them for sale at every flea market....can be had for about $10.......kind of like saying Model T Fords are rare......

[1948F-1Pickup]

I used to work for GM’s Delco parts division. Sold plenty of them. Had an account that bought tons of the tach-drive distributors. A cast iron housing would be a pretty rare item and an aluminum one not so much.

[Gene1949]

When I did mine I also cut it for the old Chrysler magnetic pickup and reluctor. All wreaking yard "repurposed" junk.
Then you get to use the electronics of your choice. I used an HEI brain and one of GM's newer "E" coils tucked under the distributor. The late '90s V6 application had a nice heat sink for both. I've ran it for 20+ years and many miles using Bubba's curve
(Thank you Bubba).

[Gene1949]

and manifold vacuum for the advance can. Drivability and low speed cooling

[Ol' Ron]

It's amazing how long the Chevy distributor has been used in the Flathead. I think the first one I saw was in the late 60's, made my first one soon after, and put many in my first buills because they were much cheaper, then one of my coustomers sent one to a fellow in Texas that converted it to electronic, had several of them made but the price was to high, I think around $50, so I kept using the points and cap. I have some of that in my book. Then Richard Kunc did an engineering value of the distributor and tuning evaluation, since then several other people have made them available to the general public and Charly NY is doing an excellent job of rebuilding them and converting them to the Flathead. I think the History of the Flathead and all the modifications made to is over the 90 years since it's introduction. I think the best part of the Flathead era is how it's brought so many people together. It's like a love a fare. Kinda coeney HUH???
Gramps

[Gene1949]

got you beat there Ron. I saw my first Chevy distributor in 1961. Neighbor kid bought a 53 Ford with three deuces. Ran like shit because he couldn't get the load o
matic figured out. One of the local guys cut down an old iron Chevrolet distributor and it all the sudden turned around and ran like a watch

[Ol' Ron]

The biggest problem we have with the flathead is the fact that very few people know how to tune them. Richard Kunc spent thousands of dollars countless hours designing all the things necessary to find the proper methods for tuning the engine , posting it here on the forum, and YET we still go different ways. we should at least try , maybe he was wrong, but I follow it, seems to work. But I don't build anymore engines, so don't have the opportunity to do it. Charley NY produced the distributor Richard designed, still will if you ask. but every day someone has a tuning question or problem??
Gramps

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

The biggest problem we have with the flathead is the fact that very few people know how to tune them. Richard Kunc spent thousands of dollars countless hours designing all the things necessary to find the proper methods for tuning the engine , posting it here on the forum, and YET we still go different ways. we should at least try , maybe he was wrong, but I follow it, seems to work. But I don't build anymore engines, so don't have the opportunity to do it. Charley NY produced the distributor Richard designed, still will if you ask. but every day someone has a tuning question or problem??
Gramps

Is Richard’s dizzy based off the Chevy design? First I’ve heard of this.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by Tim Ayers

Is Richard’s dizzy based off the Chevy design? First I’ve heard of this.

Tim.... If I remember correctly, it IS a Chevy distributor, set-up to Richard's specs. Seems like there was a fancy mod concerning the means of dialing-in/maintaining the vac advance. Or, I could just be full of it as usual!

Coop

.

[tubman]

Chevrolet distributors usually have a total advance of around 36 degrees. A flathead likes a total advance in the low 20's. Unless the SBC distributor is modified to limit the total advance, you will have performance and overheating problems.

Charlie and Bubba take care of this when they convert these distributors.

[Ol' Ron]

Richards distributors are the same as Bubbas and charlie as far as advance and rebuilds are concerned, and od hi quality, Haowever he didn't make them commercially available. I had several and he also gave me the road rig when he left the business. I had an opertunity to drive his car a 53 Ht with 276/L-100 stock valves and ports. I was impressed with it's preformance, but the econmy was great the AF was in the low 15's in cruise.
Gramps

[Gene1949]

I would encourage everyone who is running multiple carbs or 4 bbls to listen to these "grey hairs" and the R&D they did on advance curves. I guarantee you will not be sorry. They know what they are talking about.
Not so much for the "originalists" or people more interested in the "cool factor". Whole different can of worms that demands much shop time and down time futzing with unreliable aftermarket/secondary market supplied parts.

[Ol' Ron]

Richard found the Edelbrock 500 CFM carb to be the best all aroung carb for cruise econmy and power. However they are very rich out of the box. Now this wa all 10 years ago, so things might be different now.
Gramps

[big red 54]

Thanks for the info, I have contacted Charlie ny and we are ordering a dizzy for my build today. I am fairly new to flatheads ( father /son project) and while it was my fathers final say, i thought all along that the stock dizzy was our problem (he was adamant on manifold vacuum). It had a magneto but we had a slight backfire problem and we removed it. Well that wasnt the cause of the backfire, we lashed the valves better and it went away. but now it has load a matic problems. He has move on to another hopefully better world, so know it is mine. but now i have a magneto i dont know what to do with.......any suggestions out there?

[modela4shane]

Could a Pertronix igniter be used in one of Charlie NY converted Chevy distributers if it has been built with points & condenser? I have one from many years ago and was wondering if its just a simple process of installing a Pertronix igniter kit.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by modela4shane

Could a Pertronix igniter be used in one of Charlie NY converted Chevy distributers if it has been built with points & condenser? I have one from many years ago and was wondering if its just a simple process of installing a Pertronix igniter kit.

It has been done, but the 6 volt Pertronix units have proven to be problematic in the past, due to quality and "dirty power" problems. For the O/P at least, I believe it would be better not to complicate things at this point. With the quality of the product Charlie puts out and the way most of these cars are used, the distributor will prove to be reliable for many years.

[tubman]

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Originally Posted by big red 54

......... but now i have a magneto i dont know what to do with.......any suggestions out there?

Put it on eBay or the H.A.M.B classifieds. Exotic vintage speed equipment can draw some big money these days. I got $1200 for an old Cirello "Frankenstein" for an early hemi, and that was 10 years ago and it needed to be refurbished.

[solidaxle]

I have been running a Pertronix for over a year without problems. Using 6 volt positive ground in my Chevy Mallory four lope flat top distributor. You're not supposed to use solid ignition wires, so I had to drill out the cap to accept the larger suppression wires. Pertronix will custom build a unit to meet your needs as they had to do for me.


The one problem I had, I inadvertently(Stupidly) left the lights on and drained down the battery. I couldn't push start and pop the clutch to get it going. There wasn't enough voltage for the Pertronix to fire.

[69a]

I've modified 3 GM distributors. One early points one with the window in the cap to adjust the dwell. And 2 big dia. HEI's. If I was going to modify another one I would go to a GM style "Progression Ignition" they come in small and large dia. About $600.00, but fully programmable with an app on your phone. And has a port for vacuum line. My brother has one on his '76 Porsche.

[leebros60]

I have been looking for Charlie’s contact info and finally I found it. Thanks for posting it. And I just have one question which Chevy dist would be the one to look for or are they all the same and it doesn’t matter. Thank you

[tubman]

Originally Posted by leebros60

I have been looking for Charlie’s contact info and finally I found it. Thanks for posting it. And I just have one question which Chevy dist would be the one to look for or are they all the same and it doesn’t matter. Thank you

Now that you have Charlie's contact information, I think he would probably be the best one to answer this. He may also be able to supply the proper core.

[52flthed]

So why would someone use a Chevrolet distributor on a Flathead? Just because they’re easier to adjust? Is there a reason why they are used over a Ford stock distributor?

[cadillac512]

If you use a carburetor other than the stock unit, the vacuum source for the Ford distributor will not be correct and the timing curve will be wrong. Also, the Ford distributor used ONLY vacuum to control timing advance, where the Chev uses both centrifugal and added vac advance to provide a much more tunable setup for any engine not completely stock.

[69a]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

So why would someone use a Chevrolet distributor on a Flathead? Just because they’re easier to adjust? Is there a reason why they are used over a Ford stock distributor?

The SBC distributor runs clockwise. The SBF anticlockwise.

[Bored&Stroked]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

So why would someone use a Chevrolet distributor on a Flathead? Just because they’re easier to adjust? Is there a reason why they are used over a Ford stock distributor?

As the question is a bit open-ended, the answer needs to be a bit clearer.

1) 1932-1948 - Front Mounted: There is nothing wrong with the front-mounted flathead distributors (32 - 48) - as long as they are correctly setup, have quality parts in them, etc.. The biggest issue for many folks is they are not easy to work on (in the car) - and are a bit of a mystery to "modern" folks.

Their vacuum "load brake" system works fine with updated intake manifolds with multiple carbs. It is not a bad idea to update the internals (points cam and advance mechanism) to the later units (advance mechanism is key) - as the advance curve is better for a higher-performance flathead. Folks like Third-Gen can rebuild these early front-drive distributors.

A lot of guys will run a "Crab Style" version of the front-mount distributor - due to it being much easier to use more modern style spark-plug wires, is smaller, etc.. Many of the early "racing" ignitions were made from updated versions of the crab-style distributor. The most well-known and prevalent is the "Harmon-Collins Dual Coil" distributor.

2) 1949-1953 - Side Mounted: Ford changed the front of the flathead in 1949 to use a different set of water pumps, different timing cover, side-mounted distributor, etc.. The distributor is known as the "Load-o-Matic" - and its advance mechanism is vacuum driven off a port in the carburetor. There is no mechanical advance (like earlier models). This all works just fine in a stock engine, but the minute you start "upgrading" your engine with multiple carbs, different cam, etc. - then the load-o-matic can become the "Crap-o-Matic". The advance curve is nowhere near correct, and you can't "fix" it. It was designed for a stock vacuum signal coming from a single stock carb - when you changed all that out, it no longer has the correct vacuum signal and the whole advance curve is fubared.

Will your engine run with a stock Load-o-Matic in your modified big-inch, multi-carbed, cool-cammed, finned-headed 49-53 flathead? - "Yes".

But will it have a correct spark advance curve . . . nope. There is no easy "fix" for the stock distributor, so guys have been converting Chevy distributors, running aftermarket distributors (flat-top Mallory's and such) and magnetos for years.

Personally, I would never run a Load-o-Matic on a modified 49-53 engine.

There yah have it!
B&S

[jeepguy1948]

I am running one of Charlies dizzy right now and it’s great (with points). He backs off the advance to about 23 degrees total so you can tune at idle 0-3 degrees advance. Charlie will not do an electronic dist for 6 volts, he says they all fail. I would advise anybody wanting to do business with Charlie that Charlie does not like to use the phone, plan on using email (he’s very responsive using email). I have one of his distributors in a V8 and a Stromberg 48 he rebuilt on a Model A.

[Gene1949]

Crank degrees crank RPM
16* 1800
22* 2300
VAC Advance FROM MANIFOLD 14*@ 15”
Initial doesn't matter much, it's the 1800 and 2300 rpms totals that count. Seems 1800/16* maximizes torque on a stock flatty. One of the wiser grey hair here posted it and I had to try it. It works.
I have always used the "hot timing" method with a timing tape or adjustable timing light as long as you have an accurate TDC.
Manifold vacuum is a tremendous advantage with low end drivability and low speed (cruzing) cooling

[TomT/Williamsburg]

I have one of CharlieNY electronic Chevy distributors for sale with the long shaft so you can use the early belt setup and brand new never installed - PM me if interested

[Bored&Stroked]

Originally Posted by TomT/Williamsburg

I have one of CharlieNY electronic Chevy distributors for sale with the long shaft so you can use the early belt setup and brand new never installed - PM me if interested

Hey Tom - explain to folks what you mean with the "long shaft" comment - many will have no clue as to what you can do with this and the components it allows you to use.

[itslow]

Originally Posted by 52flthed

So why would someone use a Chevrolet distributor on a Flathead? Just because they’re easier to adjust? Is there a reason why they are used over a Ford stock distributor?

The shaft and housing length of a SBC/BBC distributor is an ideal diameter and length to allow for it to be easily reduced to fit the 8BA Flathead.