Electrolock question

P

patrickt

Senior Member
Hello All !
Our A engine is about to be rebuilt, but for the longest time was running with an old "standard" distributor (NO Electrolock cable or threaded hole in distributor ). So we decided to get a reproduction distributor that includes the big threaded hole on the side for the Electrolock cable ( Which we may or may not put on the car, that's another story...)

Given our dash doesn't have an Electrolock ignition switch, can we wire up the distributor in the conventional manner ? To put it another way, will the distributor electrical work correctly WITHOUT the Electrolock cable screwed on the distributor? Thank You.
Patrick
 
Yes it will. The thread is a standard pipe thread, 3/8" if I remember right. So feed the wire directly into the hole, or put a short piece of pipe into it first.
 
It depends on how the distributor is set up. If it is set up for an armored cable then you can use one with just the wire protruding from the end in the dash to connect to a standard switch. If the distributor is converted with a modern points & condenser plate in it. A plain wire can be used between the distributor and the dash. They make a switch that appears to be a pop out that can be used in lieu of the original Electrolock. Reproduction pop outs were available for a long time but they weren't as reliable as the original Electrolock units. Rebuilt originals are sometimes available on flea-pay but they will be expensive. I imagine everything is expensive in your location though.
 
Hallo, does anyone have a photo of how and where the Electrolock aluminum emblem was attached original on the armored cable?


I say thanks in advance!
 
Thank you both for your replies !
I have only seen pics of the armored cable, and can't quite remember what the inside of the threaded hole (for the armored cable) on the side of the distributor looks like. Thus I'd like to ask for some clarification.

JIM BRIERLY - Does the threaded pipe/pipes serve only as a guide for the wire coming from a standard ignition switch ? And when you mention feeding the wire directly into the hole, is this a smaller hole within the threaded hole ? Do I then connect this same wire inside the distributor to the contact breaker points ?

ROTORWRENCH - It is a reproduction distributor for use with the armored cable for the Electrolock, except I don't plan on using an Electrolock, rather a standard ignition switch.
 
I meant the attached picture of the label. Where was that attached to the armored cable from the ignition?
 

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The armored cable was designed to protect the wire against heat (cylinder head) and tampering (hot wire for theft). It has a spring loaded terminal that makes contact with the ignition breaker components inside the distributor. The breaker plate & condenser parts have to be like the original components for the spring loaded terminal to make good contact with the components in there. If it has a different points plate with modern type breaker points & condenser then a wire will have to be connected to them internally.

On the armored cable data plate, only a certain run of those ignition components had that feature. The time frame was some what short lived.
 
BOB - Thanks for the link.

ROTORWRENCH - That pretty much answers my approach to connecting the switch to distributor wire, as well as knowing how the armored cable works. As far as I know, this repro distributor uses repro interior parts as well, so I might go for the cable that Bob mentioned. Lacking this cable, I will then try to connect the wire inside the distributor. Many thanks Rotorwrench !
 
rotorwrench said:
The armored cable was designed to protect the wire against heat (cylinder head) and tampering (hot wire for theft). It has a spring loaded terminal that makes contact with the ignition breaker components inside the distributor. The breaker plate & condenser parts have to be like the original components for the spring loaded terminal to make good contact with the components in there. If it has a different points plate with modern type breaker points & condenser then a wire will have to be connected to them internally.

On the armored cable data plate, only a certain run of those ignition components had that feature. The time frame was some what short lived.
Click to expand...

The cable data plate was used from the beginning of production thru Sept.1930..
 
Yes, the pipe only acts as a guide. The wire would connect to the plate as the standard cable does, some modification will be needed at the wire end.
 
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