Ford 13 cab Distributor

Ken Hughes · #1 27-12-10, 10:58

Does any one know how to set the advance on a crab distributor type V8.
I know the technical side of it but do you stand on your head or work blind to manualy adjust
the advance,i can just about get to the distributor from undrneath the truck,BUT there is radiator shrouds,fan belts and distributor wires in the way?
Or is it easier to remove the nose cowling to get at things???
One possible way is to remove the distributor from the block and do the manual setting and replace ,what ever, it does not look easy!.

T Creighton · #2 27-12-10, 20:16

Hi Ken,
Seasons Greetings from Katikati.
No doubt the New Year celebrations in Dunedin will be as great as they always are.

The book says the vacuum brake is adjusted during road testing. Leave the lock nut loose and you can turn the screw with a long flexible drive from the top left side. Screw out to induce “ping” and screw in to just eliminate it. Then tighten up the lock nut. It is all very difficult and fiddlely to get at. And hot!!!

Bear in mind that it is the left hand set of points that sets the precise moment of spark so the gap is very important.
I found it was easier to remove the distributor to work on the points.
If you don’t have the proper device to set the timing up it can be done by measurement.
Be careful choosing repro points. Most of them are crap. I have had two crack in the arms and throw out the timing.
I put a white No. 1 TDC mark on the bottom pulley and had a removable, bolt on, scale that fitted around the pulley. Then it’s easy to use a timing light like you can on almost every other make of engine.
Regards,
Terry

Ken Hughes · #3 28-12-10, 01:56

Hi Terry thanks for the info,i hope your having a great christmas and have a great new year.
We just finished 24 hours of heavy rain but looks like its clearing up,has been very warm up to now.
looks like i will invest in a long flexable extension for the socket set to do this job,thanks again ,cheers.

John Mackie · #4 28-12-10, 12:30

I was intreested to read about the poor quality point sets available. Many years ago I wes told of aftermarket point sets that would not synconise, today I found a set!! Toby , (willanthry ) has aquired a nice F60L blitz and I will help to get it to go. Today we had the disy at my place, to look at it it had just been overhauled inside it was nice and clean. WE had to pull the points out as they were not making contact. on setting up the disy we could not get the points to synconise and had to close up the points and had to settle with about 11 degrees of point opening. I think the points concerned were Australian made Lorimer ventilated with white nylon leavers.
Has anyone here had this problem with these particular points?
I hope Toby will soon have more news on progress.
John.

Phil Waterman · #5 28-12-10, 12:57

Hi Ken

Terry raises a couple of very good points, the "new" or "reproduction" points are often questionable, my brother and I have found this to be true of both Ford and Chevy. Have come to suspect that the brass used in them as been recycled one to many times and the impurities result in problems.

The point is an important one just because you put new points in doesn't mean that weak or no spark isn't the points again. I carry a spare set of rotor, cap, and points in each truck.

For years I would routinely replace the points (cheap and easy) on any engine instead of cleaning and filing . For some strange reason I save the old points tossed them in a box on the shelf. Long story short now I'm cleaning and putting 1940s points back into the trucks and they last longer.

Terry's other point about adding a timing mark that you can actually see is a really a good one. On Chevy's while it is easy to adjust the timing it is almost impossible to see the timing marks, I've added timing marks that can be seen through the little access plate hole on the back top of the bell housing.

Adjusting the timing on a 1934 Ford is a pain, how about some pictures of the issues of adjusting it in CMP.

T Creighton · #6 29-12-10, 09:44

Hi Phil.
Sorry, I haven't any pictures of the front pulley timing marks and scale. I could mount it back up and take some if anyone is really interested.
Here is a pic of the cracks in the repro points. I did not notice them until I removed the distributor for a closer look. They caused lots of head scratching trying to get the engine running properly.
The restoration took about 5 years and the points were amongst the first things I bought. After 5 years or so the owner of the shop where I bought them was sympathetic but didn’t offer any refund.
Money beats sympathy every time but I dipped out on this one.
Luckily I hadn’t discarded the original scripted “Ford made in Canada” ones and they are back in and running just fine.
This excellent site explains how to set up the timing if you don’t have the proper timing fixture.
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/f...str-timing.htm

Regards to all,
Terry

Ken Hughes · #7 31-12-10, 21:00

Happy new year Terry,would you like a spare set of points as i have some spare new old stock ones.

T Creighton · #8 03-01-11, 09:41

Cheers for that Ken,
With petrol nearly $2 a litre I'm not going to wear out too many sets of points but a spare set would be really good.
Will email you re details.
Happy New Year to you and everyone else.
Terry

Ken Hughes · #9 18-01-11, 09:15

Well i managed to get at the distributor OK from underneath the radiator and with very small spanners i was able to adjust the distributor.
I also used a vacuum guage and with the readings from my NZ Army Training Manual,set the distributor accordingly.
Running much better now,thanks to all your imput guys.

T Creighton · #10 25-01-11, 09:55

Hello All,
These points arrived in the mail today from Ken Hughes.
They look heavy duty good quality parts.
MLU is certainly great for friendship and the exchange of ideas and parts.
Thanks Ken.
I will pull the distributor out and install them when I get a minute. No splash plate made yet so the job will be quite easy.
The other photo is the strobe light timing dot (TDC No 1 firing stroke) on the pulley with the scale plate bolted to the front cross member. The four witness marks are to install it in the proper place each time. The pointer is at TDC and the degrees of advance can be worked out from there.
The mark is best done with the heads off using a dial indicator or straight edge and feeler gauges.
I decided to do this after rebuilding the engine so I fitted a small clear plastic tube to an old spark plug body with the other end of the tube in a jar of coloured liquid taking care not to suck anything up into the cylinder.
Regards,
Terry.