Reproduction Distributor - a problem found

[WardAZ]

;^)

[Big John]

just shows to go ya... reproduction parts again.....

[Art Bjornestad]

Thanks for the post and pictures, might save guys like me from just assuming everything you buy will be correct.

[Fred]

And you forgot, "ALL" the Better ideas than Ford had to make it "BETTER" ??

[700rpm]

As someone here said (Tom W?), "Test, then replace." If you just start throwing parts and money at the car, it can quickly add up, a $1000 in this case, when all he needed was a 5-cent washer. I think this often happens because a guy (I'm not saying this guy) is inexperienced with mechanics or the Model A, panics, and applies a modern attitude toward the problem. A deep breath, patience, some reading, and some close analysis and testing can in most cases sniff out the trouble, and you gain a little more confidence in the car and your abilities to fix it every time you take that approach.

Ward, thanks for the pictures and the explanation.

[TinCup]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I have seen that same problem on other distributors where the wire is replaced and they use a washer that is too big. In this case not the parts problem but the repair.

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

As someone here said (Tom W?), "Test, then replace." If you just start throwing parts and money at the car, it can quickly add up, a $1000 in this case, when all he needed was a 5-cent washer. I think this often happens because a guy (I'm not saying this guy) is inexperienced with mechanics or the Model A, panics, and applies a modern attitude toward the problem. A deep breath, patience, some reading, and some close analysis and testing can in most cases sniff out the trouble, and you gain a little more confidence in the car and your abilities to fix it every time you take that approach.

Ward, thanks for the pictures and the explanation.

I get the call almost every day. It can be very frustrating for a car not to start and often parts are thrown ( thats a good term) at the project and sometimes that dont even work.
Today i have had four of these and only two were easy fixes and the other two i dont think i ever conected to the guy.
I would like to meet and hang out with " THOSE GUYS" , you know the guys that suggested changing the fuel pump to get hotter spark or the "guy" that said the spark was too weak to start the car ( on a new engine).
Some days i could just explode !!!!!!!!

[tdlmomowers]

We had a problem with an aftermarket distributor cap. The gap between the rotor and the cap contacts was not uniform. We could have filed the contacts that were too close to the rotor to get the right gap, but we could not add material to the contacts that were too far away from the rotor. We used an original Ford cap and all the contacts were uniform and it ran great. There is some real junk being built out there or over there, so be careful of where your parts come from

[tdlmomowers]

I don't really understand how there can be so many problems with trying to understand a car that is 80 years old. With a few basic tools, our ancestors kept these simple cars running for years. With a wiring diagram and a voltmeter and continutity tester, you can troubleshoot any electrical problem on the car.

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by tdlmomowers

I don't really understand how there can be so many problems with trying to understand a car that is 80 years old. With a few basic tools, our ancestors kept these simple cars running for years. With a wiring diagram and a voltmeter and continutity tester, you can troubleshoot any electrical problem on the car.

They are complex machines that are easy to work on and therefore easy to screw up.

[Will N]

That top plate in the picture looks pretty beat up for a part that is supposed to have come from a new repro distributor.

[Barry B./ Ma.]

I bought a new wingtype distributor body and the car skipped after starting, there was NO conductivity at the #1 contact. Must have separation inside. Looked nice but went into the trash can. Put the old one in and she ran beautifully. Don't they check these things for conductivity?

[J Franklin]

Barry, they don't know things are amiss, you didn't give them the faulty unit back! Neither did Wards friend.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

As someone here said (Tom W?), "Test, then replace." If you just start throwing parts and money at the car, it can quickly add up, a $1000 in this case, when all he needed was a 5-cent washer. I think this often happens because a guy (I'm not saying this guy) is inexperienced with mechanics or the Model A, panics, and applies a modern attitude toward the problem. A deep breath, patience, some reading, and some close analysis and testing can in most cases sniff out the trouble, and you gain a little more confidence in the car and your abilities to fix it every time you take that approach.

Ward, thanks for the pictures and the explanation.

HEREEEEE
thats all that mostly goes on here is change out parts and a prayer
We need to start a thread of how to properly diagnose and attack
Some easy diagnosing can be done with a test light, spark tester, multimeter, fuel bowl float height tool.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Barry B./ Ma.

I bought a new wingtype distributor body and the car skipped after starting, there was NO conductivity at the #1 contact. Must have separation inside. Looked nice but went into the trash can. Put the old one in and she ran beautifully. Don't they check these things for conductivity?

Mornin' Barry, Dog just said,"Naw, they just "minimum wage" MONKEYS that only know how to mold plastic & put'er in a box"!! Bill W.

[van Dyck]

It's new, so it's gotta be right! Bah! Humbug! Had this problem with repro kingpin sets: undersized, and/or tapered kingpins. My supplier told me that I was the first to complain. He was good, and went into his stockroom and sent me correct dimension kingpins. Then all went well with that job.
Many times the well used component is better than the new repro.
Problem with many in this day and age is people are impatient, won't devote the necessary time and effort to teach themselves how to used a test light or DVOM to diagnose basic automotive electrical problems.

[Milton]

I learned about ignition systems with my first Model A when I was 15. Very little money, plenty of time and no tools. It was called forced creativity.

[columbiA]

I learned how to repair & O-haul my 1st A when I was 15 by reading Grandpa,s old Dykes manual.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by van Dyck

It's new, so it's gotta be right! Bah! Humbug! Had this problem with repro kingpin sets: undersized, and/or tapered kingpins. My supplier told me that I was the first to complain. He was good, and went into his stockroom and sent me correct dimension kingpins. Then all went well with that job.
Many times the well used component is better than the new repro.
Problem with many in this day and age is people are impatient, won't devote the necessary time and effort to teach themselves how to used a test light or DVOM to diagnose basic automotive electrical problems.

AMEN! to your last paragraph, Van, some are just LAZY! Shucks, they could get on the Internet or their I------Something?? phone & find basic 101's on DVOM's or the lowly test lite.That, along with Basic car electrical 101, they could diagnose & repair most any electrical on a Model A! Buster T. just said that they ONLY have 9 wires!
It's fun to make up "special" test lights, like if you wanted to add some load, take a stoplight bulb, solder the 2 contacts together along with a wire. Solder another wire to the side for a ground, & VOILL'E, you have a test light with a built in load, probably 10 or 12 AMPS.
If you're scary, make up test jumpers with a fuse or circuit breaker in it so's you don't accidentally burn up a circuit or wire. Make another with a cheap buzzer for continuity testing, etc. I had one with a smoke alarm buzzer in it---could HEAR it a block away. Electrical is FUN when you learn to "OUT-FOX" something you can't smell, see, feel, taste, or touch! Chief put great HUMOR into car diagnosis & how systems, like those "Little Men" that ran inside the wires & made stuff "happen" Bill W.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

HEREEEEE
thats all that mostly goes on here is change out parts and a prayer
We need to start a thread of how to properly diagnose and attack
Some easy diagnosing can be done with a test light, spark tester, multimeter, fuel bowl float height tool.

Mitch, like a guy I know conked out, took a "known good" spare carb that he'd hauled around for 9 years, still wouldn't run! That carb was totally plugged up with leaves from an insect called a LEAF ROLLER! Do you have them there? When we have a roll of copper tubing, we have to bend each end shut, & keep golf tees in each end of rolls of hoses to keep them ba****ds OUT! Bill W.