I sure need your help Would apreciate any input on this Distributor .. Good`n Bad ! ( Bought it because I like the dezign & quality ) BTW .. Pulled from an Allard V8 ( back in the sixties ) Klaz
I ran them for years - no probs at all. Used to buy them NOS, ex-military for £25. Still have a couple around. They need a little more space up front than the crab cap dizzys.
They are ok. One the one i run i had to change the springs. Where way too heavy I suggest to exchange the condensor to a new one . Finding parts is difficult
pm myke, he knows someone with an NOS one and might have details they're listed in Al Drakes wishbook, just a copy of an add...if im remembering correctly
Jerre Jobe likes them... He told me the early ones were actually pretty good. I'm sure he could tell you how to set it up: http://www.vintagecarburetiontech.com/
They really do work well.The only downside is they are pretty long(like Monkey said) and won't fit some applications. I have some NOS points, rotors and other parts. Also have an NOS distributor in the box which was dialed in by Jere.Very well made units that got a bad rap for quite awhile.I think the "Prince of Darkness" deal kept guys away from them.
They were used on several vehicles in England and other parts of Europe, especially trucks and other commercial units. It is my understanding they were chosen due to their extended reliability and were also much easier to service than the Ford distributors.I originally bought 5 NOS Lucas' from a truck repair shop in England.They maintained all the trash trucks and used them exclusively.
There are two similar versions, differing in length. Best source of info would be the Ford Pilot manual, which is available in repro.
Careful when looking at Lucas dizzys - some were for stationary engines and had no advance, IIRC. Check with Mart - he ran one on old Rusty, but had issues with HT leaking through the rotor - went through a couple different rotors & I think he finally replaced the thing with a crab...
These things were once imported here and sold as "Speed equipment" through catalogs. Stationary versions are common...thousands of British flatheads ran fire pumps, sirens, etc. I think there may be a version with a Mallory type brake, like a USA Ford distributor. I believe pre-Lucas british V-8's all used the '33-36 type USA distributor, up to maybe 1939.
"much easier to service than the Ford distributors" That's because of the above...Ford England never got the crab type Ford and struggled on with the wildly inconvenient helmet model.
Hey Klaz, do yourself a favor and call Jerre when you can work out the time difference... He told me all about the Lucas dizzys and I remember some of what's being said here, but he was real specific about what worked and what didn't and I just don't remember that... It was a good 1/2 hour discussion. He really liked some of them and I want to say it was the ones with the vacuum advance but I just can't remember for sure. He said he's set up a few of them that are making really good, trouble-free HP.
ive just had my flathead built for me and the guy used one of these, I have had the engine running and it all seems really sweet, I know he has lots of parts for these and has converted the one I have to an electronic dizzy using a module he plugs in, he also modifies a modern rotor arm to fit under the cap so you dont have to worry about finding old rotor arms for them. here is a pic of it on the engine.
HI Guys Thanx for your input ! The unit is about 5" long , so it might be a thight fit in a`Deuce (?) I bought it from a cool Dutch gentleman named Henk. He bought it at a Ford-dealership in Denmark back in the sixties , and he belived it to be NOS , (The cap was added later ) The Cap retainers show some minor wear , so it`s probably not NOS ) As you can see from one of the pix below , It came with a torn paper-tab that was tied to 1 of the cap retainers: All I could read was " ALLA... " , the rest was gone .. I just took for granted that it was pulled from an Allard , But I might be wrong . KILROY : If Jerre Jobe likes them , then they are fine by me Weemark : Your engine looks WAAY COOL , Could you PM me the address to the guy who helped you with your dizzy ? BRUCE : Does your Ford Pilot manual say anything about lenght ? Could my unit be the Looong one ? , Or ... The distributor base has : 41105 2 & 4-49 stampings ... : 4 - 49 : April 1949 , Right ? When did they start to make these ? `39 ? Again .. THANX for your help Klaz
That one does not appear to have the vacuum brake which tells me it may be the one with fixed advance. PM Mart - he was running one on Ol' Rusty. I think I have one in my stash like that - not at home, so can't check.
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