chatterton's compound

Jim Mason

Jim Mason

Well-known member
I'm looking for a source for chatterton's compound. Any one have a small quantity to sell or know of a source?
Tia
 
Jim-

Out of curiosity, what are you going to use it for?

I always love playing with odd chemicals. :D

Dave
 
This is interesting, I was not familiar with Chatterton's. I have read all the Wikipedia links and they were very informative.
What did you want to use it for if I may ask.
 
I first thought that the 'wax' seal in the distributor body was gutta percha. I've obtained some and while it has some properties that I like it wasn't 'it'. that lead me to chatterton's
 
A&L used to sell a small plug for that location, don't know who may sell them now. It was specifically made for that spot, but maybe you already know this. :)
 
Maybe a dumb question, but were the ingredients of the plug listed in any of the service bulletins? Might be someplace to look.

I took a look through available content on The Henry Ford, as they have most of the drawings for the distributor and components, but nothing about the plug.
 
rackops said:
Maybe a dumb question, but were the ingredients of the plug listed in any of the service bulletins? Might be someplace to look.
Click to expand...

Dave, this question was discussed in a number of threads about ten years ago, before the synthetic plug that most folks use (if they use anything) was widely available.

The group consensus was that there was no extant documentation from Ford regarding the composition of the plug – not even on the technical drawings for the distributor assembly. None of the old-timers knew conclusively what it was made of. Marc Maron claimed to have a number of NOS plugs, but I don't think he knew what they were made of.

Contemporary accounts describe the material as "wax," but no wax of the time would have been able to remain solid at engine bay temperatures.

The idea that the material is Chatterton's compound came out of MikeK's brain in 2011. Jim Mason noted at the time that removing an original plug left some kind of residue behind. Chatterton's is primarily used as an adhesive, so the proportions of gutta percha, tar, and resin would have to be mixed so that it was a little sticky but not too sticky, and would hold its shape.
 
Quite interesting!

It's unfortunate that Ford lost a lot of records and it's tough to get access to the existing ones. Somewhere, somehow, someone wrote the info down...
 
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