Cheap Bastage -Again!!!

[Racin'Jacin]

OK it's been awhile. No good reason - just life getting in the way! Missed all of the 2016 race season due to both myself and my buddy Stan having surgery - mine was like a skinned knee compaed to Stan's, but between the two we missed out (got the car out once though). Anyways I'm Jonesin' for a fun project!!!!!! So I've been kicking this around in my head for too long now so it was time to make some chips FLY!!!!!

What is it you say???? Loosley, a 60's inspired billet distributor ( yeah I know those don't all go together - do they?? You're gonna have to humor me here).

Any who - it's a small cap 50's Mopar inspired PACKAGE SIZE, with a big cap 70's GM HEI (Hey BP remember that HEI you donated a while back - well this was why) which hopefull when I am done will look like something possibly sold in the 60's (well sorta).

So here's some of the challenges: The Mopar design uses advance weights below points, GM above - I'm using as much GM stuff as I can so I will have to shrink down the rotor and rotor plate. I stole the bearings out of teh dizzy BP gave me, but I had to modify the magnetic pickup to fit inside the housing. It will still use a '57 Mopar cap (why? because not only do I like them, but I have a stash having grabbed them at swapmeets over teh years) not only that but the early cap has a spring loaded pin in the center - making the custom rotor easier to fab, it will use a 70's Mopar adjustable vacuum can (yes I have a swapmeet stash of them too), It'll use a Chevy HEI shaft as I need the length (don't tell Jill I admitted that) - also this will allow me to reposition the lower bearing location thus "reconditioning" the shaft to be like new again. The biggest challenge so far was installing the bearings - I had everything dialed in REAL close so I thought it would be a NO BRAINER -WRONG!!! I had to make a custom piloted arbor to press the bearings in perfectly ( I learned something).

Anyways - I thought you guys would get a kick out of my follies!!!

So will it work?? Am I crazy?? Is this just stupid?? Stay tuned and we'll see.... TBC

[GMJohnny]

I'm impressed!!

GM

[Racin'Jacin]

GMJohnny, Don't get too impressed - I haven't got it to work yet!

Jacin

[Basement Paul]

There's no doubt that it will work upon completion. But you could just hang it on the wall. It's that pretty!

-BP

[Racin'Jacin]

Thanks BP, The picture makes it look a tad more polished than it really is (it's not polished at all..not yet anyways).


I'll have to fire up my old distributor machine and see if I can figure it out. Stan found it for dirt at an aucion - last I fooled with it I did have it working on a points dizzy - it'll be fun to see if I can get it to work on an electronic one.

Still a ways from that though. I still need to make a collar and pin it on the shaft. Make some sort of pin for the vac advance. Fab up some sort of rotor. Lastly I need to add the cap locator tabs - but want to get it fired up on the dizzy machine first so I can phase the rotor to the cap. Oh yeah -I need to decide how to run the wires too.

Fun fun fun!!!!


Jacin

[Racin'Jacin]

Collar made and drilled shaft (collar will fit either way so I must have gotten it pretty close. I added an O-Ring groove on the distributor base so need to fool with a gasket. Made a replaceale pin for the magetic pickup - but couldn't find a bottoming tap so I wil have to finish that later. So yes reluctantly I did have to modify the magnetic pickup for this - only easy way to use the small chrysler cap. To mod one you just snip a off a little bit and drill one hole so it's pretty easy.

Still gotta run the wires somewhere and make a rotor - add a hole here or there.

Most importantly I need to make some sort of logo - so I can rivet on a metal tag like to old chrysler dizzy's had.

Jacin

A little closer each day. Here's the pivot pin mod:

[Basement Paul]

So which one of your rides will be the test mule for this upon completion?

-BP

[MostMint]

Cushman?

[Racin'Jacin]

I'm thinking the red & white roadster! Just gotta put a hemi in it first.


Jacin

[Racin'Jacin]

BP, On a more serious note - not sure. Probably should end up in my '34 Plymouth (no hood so it's easier to show it off ) - but might have to test it in the '47 Ford - I've been having some pinging when towing slight grade - was wondering if I could tune around it - I don't want to resort to better fuel. Who knows
It it works as good as I hope - I might have to make a second one!

Jacin

[Racin'Jacin]

Hi guys, thought I'd share my latest progress. Today's goal was to get a rotor in this thing! After pondering whether I should just make a rotor from scratch -or- make an adapter to use an Off The Shelf rotor - I decided with the latter. Just a simple bar with spacers presssed and welded. Adapts a early Mopar rotor (I think a later one would work as well).

Only thing left is to machine a path for the itnternal wires (just gotta decide how to route them first). I'm getting real exicted!!!



Jacin

[Basement Paul]

That sounds like the easiest part of this project. Here's to hoping! Good luck.

-BP

[Racin'Jacin]

Hey BP that's what I was thinking, but I was wrong!!! Due to some constraints (I placed on myself - that were not necessary) it was a little challenging to mil the wire "slot" in - the biggest problem being my endmill was a tad short so I had to have it BARELY in the collet - that and the fact that the slot was approx. 1/4" wide x 3/4" long X 1-1/2" DEEP - that had me 1/4" speaker a quiverin' !! BUT - I got it done!!! It's near ready for testing -just gotta make a felt washer for it and fab up a thing or two for my billion year old distributor machine! Here's a shot showing the wire slot:

I way excited now !!!!!


Jacin

[Basement Paul]

Winter is a great time for stuff like this. I imagine your kids aren't running you around as much now VS spring/summer either. I gotta get over to your place and check out all your madness!

-BP

[Racin'Jacin]

BP, Drop by anytime!


Jacin