Dual distributors

Ol' Ron

Ol' Ron

Well-known member
How's this?? And it works,
 

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Ron, I am sure it works, however most fire the plugs at the exact time ( i have synced a few of these) but in reality it does nothing.
I have yet to see and dyno numbers showing even a fraction of a horsepower increase.....However it does look mean !!!
 
It would give redundancy for boats or aircraft. If one system quits the other is still working. On aircraft, it actually does make a tiny bit of difference in power but they have hemispherical chambers too. Elco heads and a few others were popular for hydroplane racing back in the day.

The mags are checked for proper drop off in rpm prior to each flight. Normal drop off in rpm is 150 to 200 rpm at 2000 to 2500 rpm engine speed depending on normal operating rpm of each engine.
 
rotorwrench said:
It would give redundancy for boats or aircraft. If one system quits the other is still working.

The mags are checked for proper drop off in rpm prior to each flight. Normal drop off in rpm is 150 to 200 rpm at 2000 to 2500 rpm engine speed depending on normal operating rpm of each engine.
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An approximate 10% drop-off in RPM is significant! To me that indicates a very inefficient combustion chamber design. Are piston aircraft engines still using these 1930's designs?
 
Not a good idea to use a set screw digging into the side of the distributor housings to hold things in place that kind of drops aluminum in to the oil. Not a very good set up for economy.
 
40 Deluxe said:
An approximate 10% drop-off in RPM is significant! To me that indicates a very inefficient combustion chamber design. Are piston aircraft engines still using these 1930's designs?
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The left and right mag's are checked individually for drop off by turning off the opposing mag. So one could show drop off and the other none.
And the drop off could be the result of bad plugs for that mag and in need of service.
 
The planes I have flown show a drop in rpm with either mag switched off. This is on new engines, so not a plug issue.
 
Aesthetics play a big roll in a system like this. You can't compare it to an aircraft engine. In theory, the secondary distributor should fire a few degrees after the primary to reduce the length of the flame front. In this case all we wanted to do was make an inexpensive way of doing it. I made a vertical distributor timing cover about 20 years ago, and knew this would work, we just had to figgerit out. once the angles had been figger out he just welled up to cast iron covers. If I can figger out how to post any more pics I'll post the construction and gearing . As for how it runs. So far the car isn't reaady for the road, but is driveable, and BVubba is right, the engine runs the same weather on one or both dists. Again It looks great and didn't cost much. And Ron one of those distributors is yours.
 
I always mount a block to the front cover so a stud and fork can be used clamp to hold them in place. Makes fine tuning much easier.
 
I have 3 sets of these & they came from European ford flatheads
 

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I have spoken with the guy who makes these several times. He is from downunder and has a video showing these things in action. I think he did a hell of a job. As to increased performance, who cares? If you're running a fully dressed flathead, you are chasing looks, not performance.
 
The cars manufactured in modern time with dual plugs had it for emission reasons.
Plugs firing after each other to increase duration of spark.
So you just invented the Eco Flathead !
 
Well, if the only thing you can find wrong with the system is the way the distributors are held in place is a grub screw. I consider that to be the best compliment I've received in years. Now, I didn't make this one, I worked with a friend and was going to make one from an aftermarket unit. He decided to weld up a few cast iron ones. I'm very proud of that shows alittle ingenuity that kept the cost down even further. So I guess I don't have to worry about posting pictures and more.
 
I like it ! It shows ingenuity and craftsmanship (cast iron is hard to weld).
As for increased performance the jury is still out but I am pretty sure that it might prevent a loss of performance through redundancy.
Anyway that is what hot rodders do and I think it's cool.
Keep on experimenting Ron, it's great for the hobby.
 
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