59ab distributor

F

fisheasy

Senior Member
So i had my car warmed up and pulled out of the drive way. Got about 500 ft from the house when i heard BAM and the car died. Pushed it back home and start investigating and found that the distibutor cap broke off. So i am in some need of assistance. Dont really no where to start and not sure whether or not i need a cap or a whole distributor. So any help would be appreciated.
 
here are a couple of pictures

2011-12-31170348.jpg


2011-12-31170320.jpg
 
it looks like you lost the big metal bale to hold the two pieces to the distributor . as far as needs a new cap or distributor or maybe rotor . hard to tell from the pics. i have a 46 there should be the two small clips the hold the dust cap on to the distributor cap then one big snap clip holds both parts on the distributor. hope this helps
 
You dont need the 2 small wire clips on there. The big bail will hold it all on. As far as your problem I would check for in an out axile movement of the main shaft most have to be shimmed and thst pushes the shaft and the rotor to the back which gives clearance for the rotor turning inside the cap. Most likely the rotor clipped one or more of the contacts inside the inner cap breaking it.[inexperianced rebuilder] Do you have the proper gasket inbetween the dist and inside cap,also 1 inbetween the inner cap and outside cap.Ths shimming is most important,thats the diff between someone who knows what hes doing and someone who dosen't know.These must be done correctly or you have the result. OMO ken ct.
 
Are you sure you had the tounge of dist in the right way. check for broken dist housing,they will go in 180 off,its hard to do but its happened before.. Got to be 100% sure on that one. ken ct. Those little wire clips dont do much to hold the caps on there,they tend to break all the time. I just eliminate them and use the big wire bale. ken ct.
 
Actually i never messed with the distributor. it was already on when i bought the car. the big wire thing is still there. the guy that i bought it from put it on and wasn't sure if he did it right or not. this is the first problem i have had and it only has probably 10-20hrs run time on it since i bought it
 
fisheasy said:
Actually i never messed with the distributor. it was already on when i bought the car. the big wire thing is still there. the guy that i bought it from put it on and wasn't sure if he did it right or not. this is the first problem i have had and it only has probably 10-20hrs run time on it since i bought it
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Have someone who knows what hes doing to go through it. ken ct.
 
I'm wondering what you mean when you say the distributor cap "broke off." From the looks of your pictures and your description it sounds like the big wire that holds the distributor cap on just slipped off and the cap came loose. Why don't you just try putting the cap back on and pull the wire up tight to hold it on and try it again. (In your picture it looks like the wire is above the distributor. I don't know how you'd get it to slide over the distributor cap from there. I think you need to hang it below the distributor, put the cap on seated down tight in the right place - with the tab in the slot, then pull the wire up over the cap to hold it on.) I'm thinking that it will probably work just fine. If not, let us know for more ideas.

Here's looking up from under the car at the distributor cap to see how the wire is pulled up and over the distributor cap to the middle of it to hold it on.

64239123.jpg
 
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Old Henry said:
I'm wondering what you mean when you say the distributor cap "broke off." From the looks of your pictures and your description it sounds like the big wire that holds the distributor cap on just slipped off and the cap came loose. Why don't you just try putting the cap back on and pull the wire up tight to hold it on and try it again. (In your picture it looks like the wire is above the distributor. I don't know how you'd get it to slide over the distributor cap from there. I think you need to hang it below the distributor, put the cap on seated down tight in the right place - with the tab in the slot, then pull the wire up over the cap to hold it on.) I'm thinking that it will probably work just fine. If not, let us know for more ideas.

Here's looking up from under the car at the distributor cap to see how the wire is pulled up and over the distributor cap to the middle of it to hold it on.

64239123.jpg
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Old Henry may be right,it may have just popped loose.Possibly the lrg. bail wire was not on properly it must be pulled up over a small bump on the outside cap to fit correctly.Some of them are pretty hard to get over this bump. Also that would appear to be a fair weather car. NO rubber boots on the wires and looks like NO spark plug wire metal tubes.Those rabbit ears on the outside cap are a prime place for water to enter the dist. I would not drive that car in the rain or go through any water puddles with it. LOL. The boots and tubes are there for a reason. ken ct.:)
 
Ken, Fisheasy said he had the car warmed up and pulled out of the driveway. Kinda hard to do if the drive tang was 180º off. Good info for someone else, but not applicable in this case.
 
ford38v8 said:
Ken, Fisheasy said he had the car warmed up and pulled out of the driveway. Kinda hard to do if the drive tang was 180º off. Good info for someone else, but not applicable in this case.
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Yea seeing itwas running for 10-20 minutes i guess it wasn't that,i was just trying to cover all bases,ya never know on these old fords.Kind of thinking the cap just came off.The big wire bail might have just dropped down and caps fell off. ken ct.
 
you say you herd a bang did you see smoke or smell something .the reason i ask is i have seen when a fuel pump diag .leaks fuel goes in the crank case also over choaking can put fuel in crank case. the fumes gather in the dist cap. spark from points ignate the fumes i know it sounds crazy but i have seen it hapen. a smiple test. check moter oil if it,s over fill or smells of gasoline it could be your proulbem .onley takes a min to check & cost nothing .
 
well the cap is broke in one spot. I tried putting the big wire back on but its not even holding it on tight. here are a few more pictures

2012-01-01093746.jpg

2012-01-01093709.jpg
 
Although your broken distributor cap my work like it is you probably ought to get a new one available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-d...er-59a-12106-us/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1094514/

You may also be able to bend your bail to hold tight but as long as you are getting a new cap get a new bail to hold it on with available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-d...enger-59a-12144/camid/F30/cp/Q70IB1YG1000102/

As long as you've got the distributor opened up you might as well replace the contact points available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-i...ord-78-12107-us/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1105279/

Condenser and condenser boot available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-c...-ford-1ga-12300/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1072466/ and here http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-c...enger-1ga-12312/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1072468/

Rotor available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-d...-ford-1ga-12200/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1072865/

And gaskets available here: http://macsautoparts.com/early-v8-d...ord-21a-12104-s/camid/F30/cp/JS0R3CHL1072857/
 
Am i going to have to set the time on this thing again or is all going to be well with it as long as i put it back like it was. I am tech savy but have not messed with a flathead much
 
looks like the one i have ...as said before you need a cap and rotor macs has both and the correct points as well.. Napa by me has points in stock and rotor . cap i had to get from macs. make sure when you put the cap on it is in the tab in the distributor and on tight with the clip..you should hear a loud "click" when you put the big clip on to hold the assembly on the car. if you replace the points yes. you need to set the gap and should set up the distributor on a distributor setting device .the topic on the manual distributor set up is listed as help with my 46 distributor.
 
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