Spalding

S

scooder

Well-known member
Right guys, I have here a couple of Grant Spalding dual coil flamethrower ignitions. I have run one on a Flathead and it works real good. These both lack the optional vacuum advance can. I'd like to play with one with the vacuum side working. But need to know what can was used on these, as far as I can work out, it was one of the very few (about three) parts that came off a production vehicle.
Anybody know what it came off?
Many thanks,
Martin.
 
scooder said:
Right guys, I have here a couple of Grant Spalding dual coil flamethrower ignitions. I have run one on a Flathead and it works real good. These both lack the optional vacuum advance can. I'd like to play with one with the vacuum side working. But need to know what can was used on these, as far as I can work out, it was one of the very few (about three) parts that came off a production vehicle.
Anybody know what it came off?
Many thanks,
Martin.
Click to expand...

The one a friend had, the vacumn advance looked like off of a ford Y block V8.
 
Very interesting ! I have 2or3 of these , a couple of chev style & a smallblock ford , I will convert sometime to flathead so will watch this thread for valuble info.
Cheers
Tony
 
I would like to know what canister these take as well. I have had several and all were mechanical advance only. I made these bases for use on a flathead someday.
 

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Have run then on a SBC and a "Y" block Ford back in the late 50's and found their weakest port is the roror. DP NOT use hi voltage coils they will fry the rotors very quick and I'll bet they are pretty scares.
 
If you find one with can, you may be able to glean some info there. I think Ford ones will generally have a part number prefix, which will lead you to the right place in catalog, GM ones have the last few digits of PN and degrees of advance. Now finding one, that may take a while!
I would ask on the HAMB for this. There are a lot of hard core ignition gurus there...
 
I saw a decent picture of a Spalding in an old book last night (late edition of Isky Valve timing book), and the vac can looked to me to be Ford-like. I would start with post- Holley Loadamatic Y block parts, I think that would be '57 up. The pic even shows the shape of the arm that goes in to the plate pretty well.
 
Found this by chance in an old Motor Trend, June '56 issue so with publishing lead time probably placed ad in March or April?? Anyway, I know nothing about Ford Y block ignition systems but this would predate the '57 and up distributor. Reading up on Load-O-Matic distributors gives me a headache, but I do understand that '57 and up was centrifugal and vacuum advance and the earlier Y-blocks were vacuum only. Regardless, this being an earlier vacuum can leads me to believe that a vacuum can is a vacuum can so maybe any of the Y-block vac. cans work, although I would think Spalding had a means to limit total advance. BTW, that is Willy Utzman's Studebaker V8 with dual overhead cams, Hilborn injection and a Spalding ignition on the cover. Another picture is inside but no details on the engine. Too bad, looked interesting. I do know it failed at Indy.
 

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