The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Timing - 1935 flathead

Hoop · 07-13-2016, 02:47 PM

"Hoop, what is the significance of having the engine at TDC? Why would it make any difference where the engine was indexed?"

Understanding the system certainly can do no harm. Knowing the relationship of the marks on the advance/retard plate goes toward understanding the whole system. AND you are correct ... Ford intended points replacement and adjustment to be done by common folk with no special mechanical skills. Just follow the instructions and not worry about TDC.

If you do a bunch of distributors, you'll find that the advance/retard will generally end up one "notch" or mark off the center. It's one of those things that dawns on you. If you are stuck with nothing other than a feeler gauge, and set the points at .015, and set the advance one mark off center ... the car will run fine unless there are other problems.

There are other marginally significant features of the helmet distributor that are rarely mentioned. The hole in the bottom of the housing ... according to the patent, it had another purpose other than as a possible drain. Interesting to know how the engineers envisioned the ignition system.

07-13-2016, 02:47 PM	#14
Hoop Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Jacksonville FL Posts: 1,137	Re: Timing - 1935 flathead - help "Hoop, what is the significance of having the engine at TDC? Why would it make any difference where the engine was indexed?" Understanding the system certainly can do no harm. Knowing the relationship of the marks on the advance/retard plate goes toward understanding the whole system. AND you are correct ... Ford intended points replacement and adjustment to be done by common folk with no special mechanical skills. Just follow the instructions and not worry about TDC. If you do a bunch of distributors, you'll find that the advance/retard will generally end up one "notch" or mark off the center. It's one of those things that dawns on you. If you are stuck with nothing other than a feeler gauge, and set the points at .015, and set the advance one mark off center ... the car will run fine unless there are other problems. There are other marginally significant features of the helmet distributor that are rarely mentioned. The hole in the bottom of the housing ... according to the patent, it had another purpose other than as a possible drain. Interesting to know how the engineers envisioned the ignition system. __________________ "Remember that when it comes to intelligence, half of all of us are below average."