Flathead V8 Twin Distributor timing cover i am making

[Henry/Kokomo]

I think the key words in tjw's narrative might be "converted 8ba distributors".

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by Henry/Kokomo

I think the key words in tjw's narrative might be "converted 8ba distributors".

Yep i had asked in hopes of maybe someone has a new electronic conversion that i dont know about to allow these old distributors to have the advance function.

I looked at mac speeds web site for more information as well..........

[Ronnieroadster]

With the limited amount of horse power we can make with our beloved flatheads adding any more power draining items makes little sense. The wow factor is the only positive to this setup with no added horsepower to gain.

[Mart]

Originally Posted by BUBBAS IGNITION

Yep i had asked in hopes of maybe someone has a new electronic conversion that i dont know about to allow these old distributors to have the advance function.

I looked at mac speeds web site for more information as well..........

Do you know about the Amethyst units sold by Aldon here in the UK? They are triggered by the points or a pertronics type trigger and all the advance curve and vacuum curve is programmed in. You lock the distributor in a fixed position and all the advance is handled by the unit and is infinitely adjustable. I'm running one in my roadster and I like it.

Mart.

[tjw]

Originally Posted by Ronnieroadster

With the limited amount of horse power we can make with our beloved flatheads adding any more power draining items makes little sense. The wow factor is the only positive to this setup with no added horsepower to gain.

More power draining items and no added horsepower gain !!! !!!!! !!!!!!
How can you make this comment when you have not purchased our set up nor have you had it on an engine on a dyno and seen the gains in HP.

[Bored&Stroked]

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Originally Posted by tjw

More power draining items and no added horsepower gain !!! !!!!! !!!!!!
How can you make this comment when you have not purchased our set up nor have you had it on an engine on a dyno and seen the gains in HP.

Well I will say that Ron knows about as much about flatheads as anybody else that I know - but like me, I know that he is always willing to learn more (always more to explore and learn).

So, you should paint yourself with the same brush you painted him with --> do you have any real Dyno results, where the specs of the engine are detailed, the timing curves are the same, but one has dual plugs and your dual distributors and the other does not? The running conditions needs to be exactly the same - except the dual ignition on one.

The way I would test it is with the same engine and SAME ignition system - but only run ONE of the two distributors - that would be the best test in my mind. On the one that you run, you should NOT change the timing at all.

We will take all the documented facts that you can show. I'd love to see the details and see the "gains in HP" that you mention up above?

Do share . . .

B&S

[Ronnieroadster]

Originally Posted by tjw

More power draining items and no added horsepower gain !!! !!!!! !!!!!!
How can you make this comment when you have not purchased our set up nor have you had it on an engine on a dyno and seen the gains in HP.

Gee no need to be so upset. As Dale asked if there's truly any HP advantage tell us the facts. However If dual dizzy's were an advantage for gaining more horse power than all of us SERIOUS racers would be running them. But were willing to learn so please educate us.
As I wrote its nice eye candy for those who love to add such things to our beloved flatheads.

[FlatheadTed]

With the twin plug heads the distributor has been the issue ,The guy who first developed this particular twin plug head that this twin drive goes with (Hogan ) had a history of modifying speedway V8 60s with the distributor or mag on the firewall side ,He was in his 80s when I got to know him at that time he was running a similar set up twin 6 distributors (possibly Buick )on a Lincoln Zephyr , .He also had a special twin carb Manifold I was able to get him to share some of the teck aspect of it . This head set up was used on the salt for the un blown Roadster challenge ( Hogan Rey and Martin )2013 ?which they took out and possibly still hold ,I think 180MPH .Ted

[rotorwrench]

ELCO twin plug heads were run here in the US but mostly in boat racing applications to give them some redundancy for wet operations. They mostly used the Autolite 16 type ignition but I'm sure others were used as well. It seems Hogan tried a lot of different stuff too. Some folks just used after market aluminum covers to keep the water spray from getting on the spark plugs & high tension terminals. I don't think these ever got popular for hot rods and street type use here in the US.

[arkusvt]

well it's been nearly 2 years since the 1st post; can't find anything else on the net related to this system. has anyone here had any additional experience or knowledge about it?

[KiWinUS]

Still selling them on ebay
Not me
I have nothing to do with these !!!
Cheers
Tony

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

My only problem is with the 8BA distributors. They were vacuum only advance with no centrifugal. This makes them a no advance at all distributor in this application. They will have to be run at full advance all the time like an airplane engine. Airplane engines use either an electronic shower of sparks starting aid system or an impulse coupling to retard the spark but neither would be practical for street use. Those old Scintilla Vertex mags take a good bit of power to turn them but at least it would have some form of centrifugal advance.

Correct !!!!!!!!!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by Frank Miller

Which way the distributor turned would not matter, you just need to put the plug wires in the right hole. The thing to worry about is the advance would work backwards. I suppose you could time the distributors so one fired before the other to increase the spark time. I wonder how effective this whole setup is?

Surprized to see this pop back up again, you were one of the few that actually understood the distributor issue.
The Mach Speed Module is a 2Pertronics modules using two units in a single distributor . Only one would have advance controlling both distributor coils etc......The loadamatic would still use a vac line on that one unit....

[Ol' Ron]

Use a chevy dist on the passenger side and a Pontiac on the drivers side. Try not to over think this "STuff"

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

Use a chevy dist on the passenger side and a Pontiac on the drivers side. Try not to over think this "STuff"

Why the Pontiac distributor? Both distributors on this cover turn the same direction! Imagine a timing cover that allows us to reposition the distributor (the Chevy one). We move the distributor down so it is at 90 deg. or 'sideways' to the engine. It still turns the same direction. Move it straight down. Still turns the same direction. Now point it at 90 deg. on the left side of the engine. It will still turn the same direction. Now point it up like this dual distributor front cover. It still turns the same direction! The distributor doesn't know what position on the cover it is in so the advance mechanism will still work the same as in the original position!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Why the Pontiac distributor? Both distributors on this cover turn the same direction! Imagine a timing cover that allows us to reposition the distributor (the Chevy one). We move the distributor down so it is at 90 deg. or 'sideways' to the engine. It still turns the same direction. Move it straight down. Still turns the same direction. Now point it at 90 deg. on the left side of the engine. It will still turn the same direction. Now point it up like this dual distributor front cover. It still turns the same direction! The distributor doesn't know what position on the cover it is in so the advance mechanism will still work the same as in the original position!

True , but if you look at the pictures really close only one distributor has a primary trigger. The Macs Speed site shows two pertronixs modules in a single distributor. One distributor would just have secondary and a rotor and the other would supply primary trigger (two modules for two coils) the distributor would then function just like a regular load a matic. Any difference in plug timing (if any) would be set in the placement of the control modules etc.
Should work fine but i would like to see the dyno runs regarding horsepower like the others .....

http://www.macsspeed.com/index.php/p...ion-kit-detail

[Kahuna]

40 Deluxe has it. Finally, some sense here
Jim

[scicala]

Originally Posted by Ronnieroadster

Gee no need to be so upset. As Dale asked if there's truly any HP advantage tell us the facts. However If dual dizzy's were an advantage for gaining more horse power than all of us SERIOUS racers would be running them. But were willing to learn so please educate us.
As I wrote its nice eye candy for those who love to add such things to our beloved flatheads.

Why shouldn't TJW be upset ? You just insulted what he's been testing and working his butt off on for a long time. He has the facts, and you just an opinion. And we all know what they say about opinions.


Sal

[scicala]

Also, it doesn't rob any power to turn a 2nd distributor when your not turning an oil pump off the bottom of it.


Sal

[tubman]

Someone said they were selling on eBay. I'd like to at least take a look, but couldn't find them. Anybody have an auction number or a link?

Also, I agree with Sal, that was a pretty rude reception for someone trying to advance the hobby. Let's face it; anyone running a modified flathead is after looks and the "cool" factor. If we were seriously chasing power, there wouldn't be a flahead in sight.