First drive in the 38 tudor Humpback.

[Seth Swoboda]

Wow guys, I stand corrected, and saved a Lot of money on the Pertonix dist. almost a grand. The distributor was supposedly rebuilt 15k miles ago. I have a standard canister-style independent coil Not mounted on the distributor. What scares me about trying to set up the distributor myself is that I have never worked on one and up to a few days ago, never knew they existed. ( I worked mostly on 50-60;s cars as a kid) And from what I read, they need to be set up on a machine to set the dwell correctly. Well, so far I am just going to rebuild the kingpins and adjust the brakes and the steering box. Over the winter, I will be looking at restoring the upholstery. One last thing could I change the distributor to the different type much easier to adjust the one with the cap?

As the others have said, have Charlie or Michael at Third Gen rebuild and set up your distributor. Have a genuine Ford coil rebuilt by Skip, bolt on and drive. No further worries.

 

[nelsb01]

Kens 36....
Being stupid does not count as a break down. It is as it was -- going against what was a proven technology.

Instead, I want Kube to understand that that Fords were over built, not quality built.
You can start in 3rd gear from any stop light all day long.
I also have a 1949 Ford in my storage building, and if I need something that I put in the rafters, I can stand on the front fender and it will not bend, dent or fall of. That is over-built.

 

[Kube]

Kens 36....
Being stupid does not count as a break down. It is as it was -- going against what was a proven technology.

Instead, I want Kube to understand that that Fords were over built, not quality built.
You can start in 3rd gear from any stop light all day long.
I also have a 1949 Ford in my storage building, and if I need something that I put in the rafters, I can stand on the front fender and it will not bend, dent or fall of. That is over-built.

Well, to your points, I can't argue. That was prior to Ford (and others) figuring out how to make the metal thinner, etc.
C'mon, I really enjoy these old Fords, but they were built as cheaply as possible back then to appeal to the lower and lower-middle class folks.
Perhaps you and I are simply having an issue with semantics.
Let's be real about this, pretty much all cars were "over built" back then by your definition.
Fords, and again, I love my Fords, were way behind in design, etc.

 

[38 coupe]

Fords, and again, I love my Fords, were way behind in design, etc.

I think you are 100% correct, but that isn't the end of the story. Fords definitely had primitive suspension compared to everyone else starting in 1934 when GM brought out independent front suspension on all USA lines including Chevrolet. However, Ford suspension was durable compared to the competition. I remember as a kid riding in a worn out 38 Buick and being very impressed with the quality and refinement of the car. I also remember riding in worn out Chevrolets of the same era and thinking they were junk. Fords were (and still are) prettier and more durable than the other cheap cars of the 30s and 40s.