Clear Distributor Cap

rivcokid

rivcokid

Senior Member
Anyone seen one of these for sale of late? I'd love to have one or two, but none of the vendors seem to have them

Does anyone have any extras they'd be willing to sell?
 
Like this? Not for sale tho! Paid $$$ for it years ago on ebay. But if you want to just see your spark you can make one by cutting away sides of a cap !
 

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I have some,but they've turned yellow and opaque.The cutaway one really works better anyway.If you cut one down,get a new one and cut it.The old ones tend to shatter when you try to cut them.
 
I have a clear cap bought many years ago, also have a cut cap. It's a real kick to watch those sparks fly at night.
 
The clear cap or cutaway cap are really just for curiosity, nothing diagnostic can really be done with them. I guess you could see if the distributor body had a short in it though.
 
These folks are amazing. I never would have thought to cut a cap like this to see inside a running car. This is an A+++ shade-tree idea. Thanks.
 
lrf said:
I have a clear cap bought many years ago, also have a cut cap. It's a real kick to watch those sparks fly at night.
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The kids really enjoy seeing the sparks!! Good for checking for carbon tracking in the distributor body also.
 
Oldgearz said:
These folks are amazing. I never would have thought to cut a cap like this to see inside a running car. This is an A+++ shade-tree idea. Thanks.
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Man, I remember seeing on of those cut down around 1970 on a Model-A Texas Tour on a Coupe owned by Jake Westmoreland. He and his brother Pete were some fantastic mechanics.

The thing that made me remember this was he could make his Coupe start on compression. In other words, just turn the key and without pressing the starter switch the ignition spark would start the engine igniting the fuel on top of the TDC piston.

I was too naïve to understand all about it then but in retrospect some 40-50 years later, I am guessing he had a multiple spark discharge box hidden up behind the firewall which allowed him to get those "free-starts". That is probably why he had the distributor cap cut like that so he could show off the multiple sparks onto the distributor body terminals. Very little today on a Model-A that is 'new' news, ...as many good mechanics have thought-up most of this in years past.

FWIW, back 50 years ago at a Model-A event (tour, club meeting, swap meet, etc.) the amount of great craftsmen that would sit down together and share information makes Fordbarn seem pale by comparison. Most all of us today would love to be a part of one of those 'meetings' back then.
 
I thought of the 3D printer idea but most people familiar with 3D printers say the piece would not hold up and probably wouldn't work anyway.
 
rivcokid said:
I thought of the 3D printer idea but most people familiar with 3D printers say the piece would not hold up and probably wouldn't work anyway.
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Picture gluing a clear thread together over and over. That is what 3D printing would look like. The solution type of 3D printer might work. But who's going to program it? To make a few it would be easy to make a mold and cast it.
 
A few years ago, "Mikes" made a run of them and sold them as a special. Maybe he still has a few.
 
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