Sumthin Simple from Bubbas........

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

A short and hopefully informative post from my monday.

Distributor is a helmet from a customers 36 Ford that wasnt running real well when removed.

Ok lets get it apart and boom we see the problem right away , it appears that the advance has been rusted up for some time with what i would call "Ford crud" A short bath in the ultrasonic and then a trip on the fiber wheel and everything is polished and ready to reassemble.

Add the shrink to the inner shaft ( hopefully prevent any internal spark cross over) some spray lube a drop of oil or two and its road ready....
Most of these old distributors just need some clean and shine.

[quickchange34]

Another great job by the main man. Those ultrasonic cleaners work great.

[bige386]

Very nice indeed. So what do you charge to completely rebuild a distributor ? I have a 46 ford with a 239 flathead. I'm thinking about having you rebuild mine this winter at down time. Or I have a spare that I pulled apart and never put it back together. How much to rebuild that one ? I could send that one right out to ya.

[peewee2you]

The right person with the knowledge and the appropriate tools and the willingness to learn and do it says it all. Nice job.

[Barry-ct]

Very nice job as usual!!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

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Originally Posted by bige386

Very nice indeed. So what do you charge to completely rebuild a distributor ? I have a 46 ford with a 239 flathead. I'm thinking about having you rebuild mine this winter at down time. Or I have a spare that I pulled apart and never put it back together. How much to rebuild that one ? I could send that one right out to ya.

On the helmets and crabs we charge a flatrate fee of $ 48 to build , clean and set up plus another fee for any parts used during the rebuild. Our usual unit goes out the door for $100 or less. Thats no caps or coil etc , Send me the one you took apart ( will save me some time )..

[1937pickup]

Great work!!!

[39portlander]

Just recieved my back-up Crab yesterday, very nice. Have a helmet I will send out as well to get "the treatment"

Would like to see an on-line ignition class. Your post's are alway's informative, and mostly it's the simple stuff

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by 39portlander

Just recieved my back-up Crab yesterday, very nice. Have a helmet I will send out as well to get "the treatment"

Would like to see an on-line ignition class. Your post's are alway's informative, and mostly it's the simple stuff

We did have a two day ignition class that was well recieved. We used a friday , sat took 10 people and was held in Feb. Have thought that would work on line as well. Will kick that around as time permits..

[PeteVS]

I see your old friend, the "mystery modification," in the background of the last picture.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Is this dist in the pic just running one set of points? I know they will run that wat. Is there and advantage or disadvactage running one set? Probably with a 12 volt system and an external coil? Walt

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by Walt Dupont--Me.

Is this dist in the pic just running one set of points? I know they will run that wat. Is there and advantage or disadvactage running one set? Probably with a 12 volt system and an external coil? Walt

Walt ,

I have done a few of the large point 1936 units with the single point set up. The unit will adjust to 36 degrees of dwell and run on the machine at 5000 plus all day long.
I think they would work very well with six or twelve volts systems and either coil would work very good. The last few i have done used a external coil and one customer had us set up the MSD CDI box as well.

I was wondering when someone would catch the single point set.

[bobH]

I haven't noticed any mention of the advance used. According to the advance data that I have, the pre-11A distributors have a little less mechanical advance than what started in 41. Some might feel that the 11A advance is slightly 'better'. Do you do anything to the early distributors to 'jack up' the advance a little? either by using 11A parts, or by modifying what's there, in the earlier distributors? Your thoughts on the subject???

[Bruce Lancaster]

11A advance is quicker and longer than 1940 and back, and Ford eventually supplied it in place of the 68 type because gas was better and there was no need for the lazy 68. Same advance on different shaft was used '42-8. You can spot sneaky people at swap meets scrutinizing the bases of all the cheap distributor cores for the "11". I was first put onto that by an old stock car type guy, and only then read the charts in the Service Bulletins!
"Mystery mod" is just so you can set the points while under there to change the oil!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by bobH

I haven't noticed any mention of the advance used. According to the advance data that I have, the pre-11A distributors have a little less mechanical advance than what started in 41. Some might feel that the 11A advance is slightly 'better'. Do you do anything to the early distributors to 'jack up' the advance a little? either by using 11A parts, or by modifying what's there, in the earlier distributors? Your thoughts on the subject???

This unit had the large distributor cam and used the single spring contact set. The drive had 40B stamped on the end etc. My specs show this to be 15 to 17 degrees at 3000 rpm. Actually running after cleanup shows more like 19-20 degrees at 2800 which i just left alone.
Funny thing for years we have been modifying , trading parts to give the engine builders around here some increased levels of advance. Just in the last year i have noticed many of them now want less advance.
I do have some new old stock drives i purchased from a barner and use the 11A advance unit etc if thats what the customer wants.
I havent tryed running the 11 A contacts as a single contact in one yet..

[Robert Dip]

Bubbas.....need your help. I have installed a Mallory electronic ignition on my 59AB engine. You had mentioned to me before that this unit requires an adjustment on the advance and you have graciously offered to adjust this for me. My one problem is that I am in Canada, and the shipping in and out of country creates many headaches. Is there any method that I can do this myself here...following your instruction. I believe you mentioned that this is done by some internal screws.....but naturally, I have no scope of setup to calibrate. It would have to be a bit of a hit / miss like I use to do in the old days....hard acceleration and just getting rid of the engine ping.
I may be blowing hot air here...but, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks...Robert

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by Robert Dip

Bubbas.....need your help. I have installed a Mallory electronic ignition on my 59AB engine. You had mentioned to me before that this unit requires an adjustment on the advance and you have graciously offered to adjust this for me. My one problem is that I am in Canada, and the shipping in and out of country creates many headaches. Is there any method that I can do this myself here...following your instruction. I believe you mentioned that this is done by some internal screws.....but naturally, I have no scope of setup to calibrate. It would have to be a bit of a hit / miss like I use to do in the old days....hard acceleration and just getting rid of the engine ping.
I may be blowing hot air here...but, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks...Robert

I Understand as we ship to Canada all the time and its expensive etc.

It can be measured on the engine and using a timing light you may determine how much (or how little) advance you have...
Some distributors are right on while others are way off.
Does the engine seem to run ok ????

[Robert Dip]

Thanks Bubbas for the reply.
This coupe is an old 50's Hot Rod with a 59 flathead, original Navarro dual carb intake and heads. I have absolutely no idea as to what cam is in it, if anything different from stock. The engine never ran correctly, and I rolled up my sleeves and systematically went thru all of the externals. Since the compression was checked, very good and pretty well even in all cylinders, I came to the conclusion that a complete teardown was not necessary. ( Nor did I want to even remove a nice old set of Navarro heads that are probably frozen to the studs over time.....destroying them in the process ) A lot of effort was placed on the 97's, re-building, jetting, etc....new everything....getting the fuel mixture right. I also cheated and updated to a Mallory electronic ( shame on me in my desperation to get this engine running right….I may send you my original crab for a re-do…as it was in the 50’s )
To answer your direct question….Yes, the engine is running great…like gang busters…finally. However, I had to retard the timing to get rid of the pinging…and I do not know where I’m at as far as total advance. Luckily, this 59 engine has a timing tab and mark…..so whoever built this car originally ran into timing issues, or wanted to know where he was as far as advance goes. What is in my mind is…..is the timing good at low rpm…bad at higher revs…etc. I await for your wise instructions.

Many Thanks…Robert