Hot Rods Twin spark distributor

I runn in a dual spark Scintilla distrbutor and thinking to use it on a Flathead Ford.
There is absolut no info in net where ist this distibutor from, mayb some of you now.
I am not sure should I install in fron t with all wires up ore the german way in rear to have belt clerance for blower option?

 

Any sort of I.D. tag on it?

 

I counted twice and get room for 14 plug wires (plus two coil leads). This leads me to believe that this is for for an aircraft application, specifically a radial engine. They always (to my knowledge) have an odd number of cylinders.

This makes it pretty much useless for a flathead. I agree with Mark than this is for a twin plug configuration.. The two condensers verify this for me, as I had similar setup on a Pierce-Arrow V12 with dual ignitions in a Seagrave fire engine I once had.

 

thanks for enlarging the pictures.
there are 16 spark wires 9 in lower 7 in upper row and eight lobs that move the points, so I am sure they were made for twin plug eight-cylinder motor
BN8d-2 was on the ID tag on a second base that comes with the complete distributor.
Yes Scintilla wos often used on aircraft bit this is a car unit I am 100% sure but have no idee where it is from

 

On the left is the complete, on the right the housing with shaft. The one on left look typically for French distributor drive

 

I think you should count the lobes on the point cam again. I can't see 'em, but I'll bet there are 7.

Also, two condensers mean two coils. Where do they hook up? The two "odd" connectors go right to the center of the rotor, not to the outside perimeter.

 

In the two holes above the row of 9?

 

again 16 holes for spark plug two holes for coil eight lobs on the point cam
@Moriarity I will do sorry

 

I have never seen one like it but the fact that it was made in Switzerland and the color of it make me think that it’s a Scintilla

 

I'm guessing Minerva AL.

 

"Wishing doesn't make it so".

Or maybe I just can't count. Or maybe I can't see 'em from the pictures supplied.

 

Let’s see under side of cap

 

Yeah, we need better pictures. From a closer look at the existing pictures, the spacing of the holes on the edge of the the cap suggests that there might be two additional holes not shown.

Sorry if that's the case, but the existing pictures only show 14.

 

I found information that states the BN-8d-2 Scintilla magneto was used on the 1928-'34 Minerva AL automobiles and the AL used an inline eight cylinder engine.

 

Arrows and numbers on cap clearly indicates 18 holes. Not sure why you are fighting this so hard. Man with it in his hand says it has 16+2.
I know it is the internet, and everyone here is retarded, but give the man credit for being able to count up to 20.


ETA: here is the zoomed in picture, without my fat finger scribbles

 

All I can say is that the pictures posted show only 16 holes, not 18, and the 7 + 9 - 16 combination is very unusual and misleading. If you can see 8, 9, and 10 on your diagram, you must have X-ray eyes.

Carry on. I hope it works out.

 

That is one neat distributor. I'd run it for the looks alone... .
Marcus...

 

View attachment 5622821 View attachment 5622821 View attachment 5622821 20 is max I can count, so 18 is a real challenge
may be some can check that I am right with 9 lower 7 upper and two for coil
I do searching last night in net where the distributor original come from.
There are no Europe 16 cylinder, so I think it comes from a 8 with dual spark. The only I found is the Bugatti that was in the Royale and in trains. Yes they use gasoline motor in trains, not one four of them in one train!!! But the cap looks not like mine

 

well,at last we CAN see it's for an 8 cyl twin--bruce needs it for his elco

 

My apologies. Thanks for the pictures; everything is clear now. That is cool. I just hope the cap and rotor are good. I had a difficult time finding a rotor for my Seagrave, but finally found one.

 

Can't find a picture of the Minerva AL to confirm, still think it's quite probable, but I did find a picture of the Type 49 Bugatti, and it looks like it could be a match. The cap looks the same at the very least.

 

As said yesterday the Minerva AL had a straight eight.

 

WOW yes it looks that the Bugatti 49 one this distributor come from
Not sure should I am happy ore not because that made spare parts very expensive
The BN8d is a single fire distributor and used on cars like Ford German V8 Flathead TATRA and some French and here the Belgium Minverva. I hope the BN8d-2 is the dual fire version and I can use spare parts from

THANK YOU ALL !!!!!
this is the second Bugatti part on my project
during the surch I found that my fuel pump are used on Bugattis too View attachment 5622978 View attachment 5622978

 

So much for the advice "always keep your spark wires at least 4mm separated"

 

@RaceFink
Based on the somewhat limited information I can find the Minerva AL was a dual plug straight eight, and used a Scintilla BN8 mag, so likely the same unit or some variation of the unit used on the Bugattis.

 

You could be looking at the engine that made them realize why separating the wires is a good idea. Or more likely, with a low power ignition system, carbs running suitably rich, and a low compression ratio (compared to what we've become used to in later years), there weren't any issues.

 

There comes a time when the idea of running something so different turns out to be just not worth it. This looks like one of those times. There's no need to run dual plugs on a flathead no additional power will result and the tuning will not improve. The cool factor is the only reason to even consider such an odd dizzy.

Something to be concerned about as noted above with the plug wires so close together there a great possibility of cross firing taking place between the wires this certainly will light up the night when running.
Ronnieroadster