1937 Distributor Question

[Robert/Texas]

Two weeks ago, I reinstalled the distributor on my ’37 Ford which had been rebuilt by Charlie Schwendler. When I looked at my two old outer caps, I saw that the nibs that keep them from moving/rotating appeared worn off, so I purchased new ones from one of the vendors. Yesterday I tried to install the cap on the driver side. The distributor case has the slot for the nib at the very bottom. If I install the cap that way the cap seal and spark plug wiring would exit the cap at an angle pointing rear downward instead of rear upward toward the wire loom. Should I just reuse the old caps and not worry about movement?
I don’t remember having this problem last year when installing the distributor on my ’34 Ford.

Thanks, Robert.

[Jake dalka]

Aren’t there left and right caps….sure you have the proper sides or maybe two the same not a proper pair….

[Ken/Alabama]

They should interchange. There is no right and left on the caps.

[Terry,OH]

They do interchange L to R including the inner caps. Look for the two recess in the inner cap for the outer cap nib to fit. The inner cap uses the one recess in the distributor body on each side.
Sometimes the innner cap is a bit large on the O.D. and does not fit completely into the distributor body, you have to sand down the inner cap O.D. to fit nice and snug.

[Robert/Texas]

Charlie emailed me and suggested that I remove the distributor and assemble the caps that way. That is what I did on my '34 last year but it's distributor is a lot easier the remove and install then this one. I think I might need to remove the radiator to do this one.

Thanks, Robert.

[dean333]

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If there is a bottom splash pan you can get easy access from underneath. It was that way on my 36 anyway, worth a look.