Changes in vendors offering distributor rebuilds

[alexiskai]

I just got off the phone with Bert's – I was asking about their item A-12103, "Distributor housing machined with new shaft installed." I was told they no longer rebuild distributor housings. They were getting too many cores in which the track that the upper plate rotates in had worn down so far that the point gap could not be maintained within tolerances. There's currently no cost-effective way to repair this track, so they were having to discard a lot of cores and it wasn't a good experience for the customers. So please note that A-12103 is listed as in-stock but has been discontinued.

Their suggested alternative is to purchase a new housing with the bushings pre-installed and reamed to spec. I believe this does not include the shaft, despite the picture showing a housing with upper shaft installed.

The website for Renner's Corner no longer shows Model A distributor rebuilding as a service, only Model B. I haven't called them to ask about it though. I'm not aware of any other major vendors offering this service.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

There will be 5 rebuilt distributors at the Luray swap meet.

[alexiskai]

I'll put it on my list.

[Ole Don]

It seems we geezers are dyeing off at an alarming rate. Knowledge and skill goes too.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Ole Don

It seems we geezers are dyeing off at an alarming rate. Knowledge and skill goes too.

Don, you are spot-on in saying that. It used to be that hobbyists were 'restorers' on at least some level. Today, even parts replacement on a Model-A challenges the skillset of some hobbyists. It is definitely different than what I witnessed some 50 years ago in this hobby. Fortunately the majority of the Fordbarn members can still 'restore' their Model-A to some level. That means there's still hope!

Now if we can just get these new younger Model-A owners to start asking questions here instead of on the social media Model-A sites, we can likely preserve it enough for the next generation!

[redmodelt]

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Couldn't you just make the points plate center hole a bit smaller and machine the shoulder it sits and rotates on. I have wondered in the past why no one was making the hole a bit smaller anyway. Even one of the repair manuals talks about peening the area around the hole to reduce it's size for better fit.

[alexiskai]

There are at least two workarounds that involve modifications to the upper plate. The Bert's rebuilt distributors don't come with the plate, so I guess they didn't think those modifications were an option for them. Maybe we'll start to see vendors selling plates modified for worn housings.

[Russ/40]

Sounds too labor intensive to be priced reasonably.

[Ruth]

The hole in the enter is only one issue. The three tabs the fit in the outer groove wear also, maybe more so.

[frank55a]

Well may be I am from the old school that Don mentioned. Please someone explain to me why you (or a rebuilder) can not TIG weld some material into the groove and machine the groove to the correct spec. It would seem to me that would be a better option than purchasing a new distributor housing (probably made in China).

[Ruth]

Originally Posted by frank55a

Well may be I am from the old school that Don mentioned. Please someone explain to me why you (or a rebuilder) can not TIG weld some material into the groove and machine the groove to the correct spec. It would seem to me that would be a better option than purchasing a new distributor housing (probably made in China).

Well I suppose you could if you have a TIG welder and a lathe to machine the grove.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by frank55a

Well may be I am from the old school that Don mentioned. Please someone explain to me why you (or a rebuilder) can not TIG weld some material into the groove and machine the groove to the correct spec. It would seem to me that would be a better option than purchasing a new distributor housing (probably made in China).

Frank, Russ' comment in post #8 hits the nail on the head for most commercial rebuilders. As for why not weld into the groove? You can surely do that however that is a lot of work being that it is cast iron. The method I have used does equally well as the wear in the housing is generally less than 0.015-0.020", and when the groove is machined, it is basically undetectable to the average hobbyist.

For those that want to restore, here is the way that I do/did it on fine-point or full restorations. Install the housing on a tapered or expanding mandrel in the lathe, and just kiss the center shoulder that locates the centerline axis of the points plate. At that point you can chuck the housing in a 4-jaw and indicate off of that shoulder if you like. (If not, continue with the mandrel).

Next, use a snap ring groove cutter tool to clean the perimeter groove where it is the same dimension for all 360°. On the backside of an original baseplate, TIG a drop of weld onto all three tabs as a filler to build thickness. Since I didn't have a surface grinder, I just flat filed the weld until it was the same thickness as the groove cut with the snap ring tool. I used a set of feeler gauges in the groove to establish the thickness of the groove, and used a mic to match that once the filler was filed.

Then TIG on the inner perimeter of the hole on base plate and add just a small amount of filler rod to close the hole somewhat. I used a boring head in the mill to enlarge the hole about 0.001 larger than the finished size of the centering shoulder, but you could chuck the plate in a lathe too. Once it was fit to the housing and everything metalfinished, the plate (-amongst other pieces) were sent to the Cadmium plater for refinishing. Then reassemble and it is as stable as it was when new.

Realistically, someone with a small hobby lathe in their garage could do most of the restoration including mounting a reamer in the tailstock chuck and line-boring the shaft bushings. Again, as Russ stated, the time involved for anyone outside of a hobbyist makes this cost prohibitive for most.

[Bruce of MN]

One time I noticed that the points gap on the distributor was varying. While adjusting one time, I observed that the upper plate was moving slightly. A mere .001” is important here, so I investigated closer. I swapped distributors after checking the backup one for similar movement; it was OK. With the cam and spring removed from the first dizzy, the upper plate was definitely moving. I decided to “spread” it to fit better in the dizzy body. I mashed the tangs on the perimeter with a ¼” flat end punch on the anvil portion of my vise until it was snug, but could rotate smoothly. The tangs spread nicely and the job ended up cheaper than a new plate that might have also been loose anyway.

[SteveB31]

While I agree that we should restore these parts, please think of this from my point of view. These distributors that he is speaking about in this post, we were selling the housing rebushed with a new shaft in them. We were selling them for $40 including dissasembling the distributor, removing the bushings, hot tanking the housing, bead blasting the housing, installing the bushings, honing the bushings, providing and installing the shaft , sleeve and pin,and a new oiler , painting the housing- all for $40. While I fully understand you can put them in lathe, and tig weld etc......you can’t do that for $40 and make a profit. Especially when you take some apart only to find out they are very worn out. A couple years ago we raised the price on this deal to $50. Sold none, since Brattons did them for $40. The new housings are $70 and machined very well. For the average Model A owner, they are a better end product (the car will run better) for very little cost difference . Just my 2 cents...

Steve @ Bert’s