New Points or Complete distributor

Recently purchased a 36 five window coupe with a 59 ab engine. New stromberg carb but still runs a bit rough. I was thinking of a tune up with new points, condenser, plugs, timing etc. Dealing with the distributor seems quite difficult. Should I wait to get a rebuilt ready to go bolt on distributor. Where is the best place to source one. Appreciate the insight.

Does it have the 36 distributor or the 59A distributor?

Really not sure. The engine had many upgrades so for now i’m assuming its 59ab distributor. I bought parts for that

I bought a rebuilt ready to go distributor from Michael at Third Gen and popped it in. My 59ab has never been happier.

Post a good close pic and we can tell you what you have. Not all the 59A parts interchange.

alchemy said:

Post a good close pic and we can tell you what you have. Not all the 59A parts interchange.

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Sorry, not great photos. It’s a very nice car. I bought two from a 90 year old gentleman who was looking out for their future. This and a ‘30 deluxe roadster. The ‘36 has the 59ab engine, ‘39 ford transmission and a Columbia rear. I put a new Stromberg carb on it (England ) which greatly helped. The accelerator plunger was sticking. But I can tell it needs a tune up. All fluids, grease etc have been done. I have purchased new plugs, points (Two) and condenser. I have two friends helping to tune it at a shop next week. I want to make certain I have the correct parts. Thanks For your insight.

you have whats known as a "crab" type cap and distributor. Those little air cleaners have been known to cause trouble not breathing so good. nice car, you'll love the columbia

The distributor is the 1942 style. Get parts for that year. They are the easiest of them all to work on.

That "doohickey" withe the slotted hex screw on top is the vacuum brake. Make sure it is free and that the leather tip is in good shape. It should be spring-loaded. A lot of people ignore them, but Henry never spent money on stuff that wasn't needed. It's just another component that needs attention that is not on most other distributors.

Thanks All. Based on an earlier reply I just ordered a rebuilt complete distributor from Mike at Nextgen. It should be here Friday. Will install next week. Thanks!!

I think you did the right thing. Ford designed those distributors to be easily removed from the engine and timing set on a specialized machine that every dealer had. There are no timing marks on the engine. I never attempted to work on the distributor myself, would never get the timing right.

Thanks. I appreciate the confirmation. I’ll put this new distributor in next week and will post how it went. I just had the car out and lugs greatly at low speed.

cas3 said:

you have whats known as a "crab" type cap and distributor. Those little air cleaners have been known to cause trouble not breathing so good. nice car, you'll love the columbia

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Like he said, try driving it without the little air filter on it. I had a 33 1 1/2-ton truck, and I had one of those tiny, chromed, louvered, cheap, Stromberg type air cleaners setting on my workbench, it was brand new, so I popped in on the engine. Just at an idle, that little air cleaner dropped the idle speed when I set it on the running engine, which means it couldn't flow enough air even at idle. Imagine what it would do at higher rpm driving down the road. Maybe, it might work if it had three of them on a multi carb flathead.

Years ago, I bought a really neat cast aluminum air filter made to look like a big Eddie Meyer emblem with the racing boat and car. I've only ever seen two of them, it was way bigger than the small ones I had seen. It used an air filter from a full-size car inside the casting, but it had a stainless band that went around the outside center of it with louvers punch in it to hide air filter. The guy making them said. the first ones he cast, he punched small louvers in the metal band, and he got complaints it was restricting the air flow. So, he went with larger louvers and that solved the problem.

The "little air cleaners" can be just fine. It's the paper elements used by some that choke the air supply. I still have on I got in 1961 with a screen type element and it works great.