Only broke down twice today

Rudolph

Rudolph

Senior Member
For some reson my new distributor cap turned green only in the coil HT lead terminal and engine developed a misfire and wouldn't take any throttle, fixed that and went on my way but then it went bang in the exhaust and spat out the carb and totally stopped dead and I found the new rotor has broken in half. I made it to the show and back witch was a cople hours driving.

The old ford doesn't like Chinese parts
 

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It used to be Argentina made junk, now China made junk. Poor quality parts have been around for decades causing trouble. I like Standard Blue Streak ignition parts, I have to look more to find them these days.
 
I've recently seen two cases where the rotor tip hits the distributor contacts. Had to file approx .010-.020" off the rotor for clearance. New parts....:mad:
 
I have found a couple of high quality, crab distributor caps that have one of the outer 8 terminals slightly out of place or incorrectly installed during Mfg. When installed with the distributor off the engine and spin the distributor shaft, by hand, the rotor would hit just the one terminal and stop. Just a bit of work with a point file on the one terminal eliminates the problem.
Do make sure all the plug wires are inserted completely into the cap. A little Dielectric grease on the wire end can help.
 
Last edited:
Rudolph said:
For some reson my new distributor cap turned green only in the coil HT lead terminal and engine developed a misfire and wouldn't take any throttle, fixed that and went on my way but then it went bang in the exhaust and spat out the carb and totally stopped dead and I found the new rotor has broken in half. I made it to the show and back witch was a cople hours driving.

The old ford doesn't like Chinese parts
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537044
 
19Fordy said:
Could that be repaired with JB WELD and the tip filed down?
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Crab cap or 8ba style? Either one is pretty easy to find. If I were desparate to keep driving it and I was in the middle of nowhere with some JB Weld, I would finish off the job by wrapping it 'round and 'round with dental floss dipped in the JB. That's if there is a 'neck' on the thing below the arm. Other than that, get one at napa. Someone here has the part number and I have always found their ignition parts to be top notch. Happy motoring!
 
Its a Crab distrubtor, I have found i needed to file every new rotor now, this one ran for about 400 miles or more and then broke as soon as I pulled into my road, I carry a cople of them in the toolbox so it was ok.

I
 
If the rotor does not touch 7 of the 8 terminals, why file the rotor, it is not the problem area. The gap between the rotor and the cap terminals has to be as close as possible, without touching. Increasing the gap between non problem areas increases the likelihood of creating a problem or at lease shorting the life of the rotor and cap.
 
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