Technical Why did people modify v12 Zephyr distributors on Flathead V8's?

Bruce,
That was Robert Roof's preferred method of mounting a conventional dist. he made Nash to Ford conversion in both 8 and 16 plug. So I would guess that is likley what you have.

 

Last week, I was lucky enough to found for cheap one Vertex Scintilla with an angledrive, hope it will work..

 

To help clarify the Scintilla, Ronco, Vertex lineage.
The pre-WW II Scintilla, see attached pic, looks nothing like the later Ronco and then Vertex.

The Pre-WW II Scintillas were found on Bugattis and I've heard some racing Dusenburgs, they could also be found on "Big Cars" such as the "Junk Formula" Studebaker Indy roadsters, which is what the pic is from.

We should also add the Robert Bosch magnetos that were used on the Miller Ford V8s and other 8 cylinder race cars of the day. The Bosch version was also copied by a US company after WWI and sold under a different name. Have no pic of it at this time and don't recall the name of the company that copied his work.

 

<FIELDSET class=fieldset><LEGEND>Attached Thumbnails</LEGEND>













</FIELDSET>







<!-- / attachments --><!-- edit note --><HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5; COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1>
...Not to go a little off centre but with the Zephyr conversion for a flatty V8 ( as pictured in picture 5) what was the firing order for each side of the caps, the reason I ask is we have been supplied a Distributor to fit to one of our customers cars and before we start sorting out the order I thought it would be easier to find out the distributor firing order and as there is so little info on these someone would know. As the Harman Collins distributors used a different firing pattern we were concerned that the W&H DuCoil was different as well although the rotors on the H&C look the same as the DuCoil ones we have and not like the ones in picture 6...FJ

 

not sure if your looking at it right? all the Zephyrs i've seen have the same spark plug wire locations per cap. the methods of shunting the extra terminals and altering the firing sequence, by 15-degrees, varies but the firing order is the same as all other flathead ford v8's.

 

Finally found someone who owns a few Pre-War "box mags."

These pics are the correct versions of Pre-War Robert Bosch, Bugatti and Scintilla mags.
These are racing mags that were used by the likes of Miller, Bugatti, Napier etc. some of these, Bendix version of Scintilla, would have also been found in aircraft.

I did see one very early Nash Eight, Scintilla mag but again no way to id it as Pre-War yet, other then application. It has a tag but it doesn't translate to any corresponding numbers we are accustomed to seeing.

sorry loaded them out of order pic 1 and 3 go together. pic 4 is a Bugatti Type 35, these where built from '25 - '29 wish it showed more of the mag.

 

Here are a few pictures of conversions using the early Ford distributor. I have one with an aluminum adapter between the housing and coil and I have another one that uses a fiber like material for the adapter similar to bakelite. I am certain that these two were made by the same manufacturer...possibly Tom Spaulding? They are identical inside and the workmanship is stunning for as old as they are. I always thought that these were the first conversions but I may be wrong.

 

As the fellow hamber 777 said about the Scintilla Magnetos from the prewar era are rarely seen , he has never seen one.
Not that many has as they are rare. I know of 3 of them..

Then I want to show you guys what a prewar Scintilla looks like as I have two of them!

These where made for the 21 bolt flathead and was layed down for clearance for the fan.

They also had a special set of tubing for the wiring to make clearance around the water pump.

I am adding pictures of the set I own.
Its on my 1932 21 bolt engine with 34 aluminum heads and a prewar thickstun intake!
It even has a NOS Scintilla generator.

Notice that the 30´s made distibutor caps where a sunkdown big blockletter logo. these are Fu***ng impossible to find.
Later where raised small letters as the replica are still to day.

With my research these magnetos came around 1935.

Scintilla made different models of the angledrive for the magneto but most common is the one that sits straight up.

They even made one like wico magneto, with dual 4 cylinder magnetos!

Im adding pics of my other Scintillas as well.

I have run these magnetos on my flatheads and they gives the best spark a flathead can get.




If any one out here has a Lincoln Zephyr v12 modifyed to v8 im gladly interested in buying one for my roadster!
Email: flatheadroadster@gmail.com