FYI Distributor Plug

[Mitch//pa]

I noticed Brattons has a new product so i purchased 2 of them. I know guys make them out of all kinds of things, so this seemed doable. They are made of rubber and snap right in.
https://www.brattons.com/new-parts/d...seal-plug.html

[Fullraceflathead]

Snyder's has them to. I just ordered one last week.

[jb-ob]

Mitch you gotta get outta the shop more often....A&L Parts, Canton, CT have them for sale at Hershey LAST year.

You could visit Hershey on your lunch hour and still put in eight!!

JB

[Mitch//pa]

I guess i have been under a rocklol

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

I guess i have been under a rocklol

But it is still good you let others know. I just picked up a couple ~2 weeks ago for Snyder's.

[WTSHNN]

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I agree these are nice. One of those things that is kind of surprising no one had mass-produced for the Model A hobby over the past few decades.

They are built by A&L, at least that's what they told me at Hershey when I bought one.

-Tim

[jb-ob]

Allen from A&L was working on the rubber inserts for the female dovetails for his new Station Wagon door jam pieces and drifted off into making these....he said like 7 molds later he had success.

He made a small run & I bought 1/2 to give out to friends on the field

"If you tell me what this is, you can have it".

Once they realized what they where, he sold out fast.

Just once in a while, you need to take a day off Mitch! We promise to play nice.

JB

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

I guess i have been under a rocklol

Next time you're under a ROCK, take your phone with you!
SA KDad

[Tom Wesenberg]

Thanks Mitch. Guess I need to look through the catalogs more often, even if I don't need something. I didn't know these were being made.

Now, we need some nice original style rubber plugs for the Phaeton top saddle holes.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I realize these are mentioned in the STDs, however how many unmolested original cars have you ever seen them in? Also, Ron Ehrenhoffer & I looked for the original print for them at the archives once and I don't believe we ever found it. I have the distributor assy drawing and I don't recall seeing it listed on that either. MAFCA Tech Guru Jim Cannon and I also spoke regarding these. While my opinion doesn't count, but I have yet to find a reason for these to be installed on the vehicle, ...especially when you consider the material they were manufactured from.

[SeaSlugs]

I didn't know anything actually went in there.

[Brian in Wheeling]

I believe the originals were wax...not rubber.
Brian W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

A member in our club has the original plug still in place, and I took pictures of it. Both Marco and I have posted pictures in the past of original plugs, but I'm still not sure what it is made of that will stand up to the heat.

[Mike V. Florida]

"The bus bar screw was hidden from
view with the application of a water tight sealant. The
sealant or "sealing wax" was applied at the hole in the
casting forming a blackish "plug"."

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

A new use for DUM-DUM!
Bill Dumdum

[Al 29Tudor]

Never knew anything went in there.
Thanks

[Mitch//pa]

I guess these would pass for fine point judging...unless they pop it out and perform forensics on site

[MikeK]

I believe the original plug was Chatterton's compound, a mix of gutta percha, stockholm tar, and rosin. The gutta percha content (a tree protein material similar to raw latex) prevented the material from becoming too rigid, crystalline, and cracking out.

The average Chatterton's flow temperature was about 260F. Many lead-acid batteries had the cell posts sealed into the top hard rubber cap with this stuff, not the straight tar used for setting the entire cell assembly in the case.

The thick molten material was likely poured into the condenser holes, backed by the fiber washer therein, with the dizzy body sub-assemblies on their sides and moving along an assembly line. That would account for the dome-like appearance seen on some original dizzys. Other originals appear to have had the material pressed or sealed with a cold iron, leaving a flatter plug appearance with indication of the cold tool having a chamfered edge.

Chatterton's was in common use for electrical work in the 20's. Chatterton's and sheets of gutta percha were used to seal splices in generating plants and in underground feed tunnels. An old trick when sealing the leads out of an iron frame motor was to work the Chatterton's with a well-tinned hot iron, which the compound would not stick to.

Side note: In french speaking nations common electrical tape is referred to as "chatterton's" despite the fact that it is not the material of old: "Le ruban adhésif pour électricien est appelé couramment chatterton du nom de son inventeur, un Britannique. Son mélange de goudron, de résine et d’une gomme en latex appelée gutta-percha en fait un atout indispensable pour tout électricien."

As to the rubber plug in question, the A's never used pre-formed removable pop-in plugs.

[Bob Bidonde]

No matter what you use to plug the hole, it needs to be readily removable to change a condenser. In all of the years that Model As have been successfully driven without the hole plug, why bother adding one?

[Mitch//pa]

IMO Because it looks good and it pops right out...
Helps keep the internals dry, plus it supposed to be there... ck the JS book

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Bob Bidonde

No matter what you use to plug the hole, it needs to be readily removable to change a condenser. In all of the years that Model As have been successfully driven without the hole plug, why bother adding one?

Bob,
I think it's a good thing, to keep WATER out of the distributor
Bill W.

[denniskliesen]

I've had the plug in mine for 3 months now.

Question: What's the #1 cause of condensor failure?

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by denniskliesen

I've had the plug in mine for 3 months now.

Question: What's the #1 cause of condensor failure?

Hecho en Chine...

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

IMO Because it looks good and it pops right out...
Helps keep the internals dry

I agree! It just LOOKS better with something in the hole.

[Bruce Lancaster]

Aside from discussions noted here, the only mention I have seen is in Victor Page's old Model A book. I need to go look again, but there's a period note on its existence. I've never seen (or seen cited) anything in Ford literature.

[California Travieso]

Originally Posted by Bob Bidonde

No matter what you use to plug the hole, it needs to be readily removable to change a condenser. In all of the years that Model As have been successfully driven without the hole plug, why bother adding one?

Because Henry put one there!

Mitch, you've taken some hits over this. Your advice on this forum is very helpful to many of us Model A novices. Thanks for the info and hang in there.

David Serrano

[Bruce Lancaster]

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Found my Page's...it simply notes the existence of the plug, describing it as "Sealing Wax." Material has been discussed on here, strongly suggesting it was something with a higher melting point. Page could have been guessing, or perhaps just meant "Waxy stuff that seals a hole." And, of course, actual sealing wax has a long history with many different ingredients used.
Page also mentions the need to remove it for service, and fails to mention any need to replace it. Same old question...why was it put there, and if there was a why, why aren't there any notes on replacing it after the tuneup?
And...distributors were made by a number of suppliers including Standard and Autolite. Could the wax have been added by one of them, perhaps one only?
Page confidently states that Model A distributors were made by American Bosch, for what that's worth in this muddle.

[Will N]

I'd bet that the ones that Brattons and Snyders are selling are made by A&L.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Will N

I'd bet that the ones that Brattons and Snyders are selling are made by A&L.

From what Jim Brand posted u can bank on that... its not possible to tell what its made of when doing a visual look at the dist...which is a good thing..

They have a tiny bit of a textured look on the exterior face but thats hard to see unless very close up..

[jb-ob]

Re-creating the original texture was a problem which took several attempts.

Allen is a huge asset to our hobby. JB

JB

[Russ/40]

They look more like the two plugs that go in the bottom of the early v8 distributors.

[1931 flamingo]

Picked mine up today in person at A&L, along with a few other items needed before the season starts here.
Paul in CT

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by 1931 flamingo

Picked mine up today in person at A&L, along with a few other items needed before the season starts here.
Paul in CT

Nice

[Nabco]

I added a couple into my order from Snyder's last night will be here tomorrow....thanks Mitch

[SeaSlugs]

Could the wax henry plugs be more for a "tamper evident" type of plug? Much like the lead seal stamping holding the spedometer case together to show if its ever been tampered with...