Throttle and spark advance
- Thread starter captndan
- Start date
Willie Krash
Well-known member
My advice is call Berts. I would also network locally. There are a lot of parts out there.
Mike V. Florida
Well-known member
x2 for Berts There is another place on the east coast that is supposed to have original parts but Steve posts here and is always a great help in identifying and assisting us. They are closed mondays.
Kevin in NJ
Well-known member
Ususally there are 2 componets to the restoration of the levers and quadrants.
The levers need to be round. They are often worn where they ride on the quads. Just making them round with ok quads does wonders for the clicking.
If the quads are not too bad (that is flat) then dressing them with a chisel to make the V more defined. At least this works for the later style. I must add I have only worked on 31 style columns.
I recommend original parts. They are common and not to hard to fix and you know they will work. A problem is you need to get them plated. Bert's is certainly a place to go to if you want to go the original route. You pay a bit more then if you have resources around you to dig up parts from local guys, but you are paying for Bert's expetise and Steve is a pretty stand up good guy in the hobby.
The levers need to be round. They are often worn where they ride on the quads. Just making them round with ok quads does wonders for the clicking.
If the quads are not too bad (that is flat) then dressing them with a chisel to make the V more defined. At least this works for the later style. I must add I have only worked on 31 style columns.
I recommend original parts. They are common and not to hard to fix and you know they will work. A problem is you need to get them plated. Bert's is certainly a place to go to if you want to go the original route. You pay a bit more then if you have resources around you to dig up parts from local guys, but you are paying for Bert's expetise and Steve is a pretty stand up good guy in the hobby.
The rods and levers are made as one piece. I pulled my old original ones out (took most of the day and lots of "Blaster" penetrating oil pulling and rocking the levers back and forth to get them out) and cleaned them and totally cleaned and restored my steering column. The original zinc plating has a worn patina in places but it looks nice in the otherwise nicely restored old car. Unfortunately my quadrants were worn smooth enough there we no notches that would "hold" anymore but I didn't bother to try to make notches. I don't use the throttle rod at all, even in starting the vehicle, and the spark rod (the spark advance rod) has a very firm yet smooth gliding positioning throughout the "quadrant" range of adjustment where it stays exactly where I put it, I suppose due to the spring at the end of the rod where it exits the steering column holding it in place as well as the mild smooth resistance in the rest of the linkage going to the distributor.
