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.
New Points or Complete distributor
- Thread starter Roadstah
- Start date
custom_lettering
Member
I bought a rebuilt ready to go distributor from Michael at Third Gen and popped it in. My 59ab has never been happier.
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.
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tubman
Well-known member
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.
JayChicago
Well-known member
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.
Flathead Fever
Well-known member
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.
Drbrown
Well-known member
Some refer to that distributer as the Two-Bolt distributer or "crab" as mentioned. As noted timing not adjustable. Recommend NOT fooling around with the vacumm assembly on top of the distributor unless you have the right equipment and experience. If th evacumm piston is proper fit and condition should be okay. Point setting specified is "aveage" and workable but setting them with a dwelll meter is better. I get my distributors, coils, carb's and pumps as rebuilt's from Charlie S He tests every item on a shop engine before releasing them. I keep spare distributor, carb and pump in my trunk. Given my experience, condensor's seem to cause more problems. NAPA carries good condensor and point replacements. Re air filters, my '47 is not a performance engine. I use the original oill-filled air cleaner and adjust the carb idle screws using a vacumm gauge.
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rotorwrench
Well-known member
The owners manuals all gave information about changing the points sets and minor adjustments, The 2-bolt distributors are all the same basic design but they either have the crab cap or the rabbit ear cap. The distributor as a whole needs to have everything cleaned and checked. Many folks don't go that far but they should. The vacuum brake was already mentioned. It's not a real complicated set up and many times a person can just keep the original setting. They don't need a lot of tension on the spring as a general rule. The centrifugal advance weights and springs should be checked for wear or spring breakage but this task can be difficult since the shaft should be removed and there is the timing slide bolt with curved plate and the snap rings that have to be removed to get it all out of there. Mark the timing position or go through the procedure for adjusting the breaker plate timing. The breaker point terminal also has to be removed from the case. Disassembly allows checks of the two bushings and easier access to the two point sets. At reassembly, the bushings should be touched with lube with tiny amount of advance weight pivot lube as well. The distribotor only goes back on one way so it's not real difficult other than getting in there to the two bolts. There is no adjustment involved with installation. Timing is adjusted incrementally with that little sliding adjuster but it rarely needs adjustment once it's set.
If this all sound like a PITA then by all means swap it out for a rebuilt unit or have them rebuild yours. I don't know what they charge but it may depend on the condition of the core. The 11A advance units eventually wear out and I don't know if they are reproduced like Ford/Mallory made them. I would get a spare distributor unit and rebuild it for later use if needed. There are still quite a few good cores out there.
If this all sound like a PITA then by all means swap it out for a rebuilt unit or have them rebuild yours. I don't know what they charge but it may depend on the condition of the core. The 11A advance units eventually wear out and I don't know if they are reproduced like Ford/Mallory made them. I would get a spare distributor unit and rebuild it for later use if needed. There are still quite a few good cores out there.