I am trying to find a Spalding flamethrower for a 322 nailhead but got an interesting response when I reached out to a nailhead specialist... "I made the one for my roadster using the top half from a Chevy flamethrower and a 57-58 Buick distributor. The Chevy and Buick both turn clockwise" Has anyone attempted something similar and willing to share the process OR know of someone that can do this. It seems that whilst Spaldings are relatively rare they are SUPER rare for the nailheads.
We modified a sbf dizzy to fit the Y block in our bucket by remachining the shaft etc to suit, if you have access to the tooling and the know how it's not a huge deal. I've been wanting a flamethrower for my nailhead as well but the price and availability is the big issue so I may have to try the same as your thinking. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
If and as I make progress on this, and if you are interested, I will reach out to you to see if we can lower the cost in getting two done at the same time. Just a thought.
Sorry for bumping an old thread but am doing so to close it off, to help those reading this in the future... I managed to get hold of Jim over at Bubbas and he was going to convert a SBC Grant for me (he DOES do conversions) but I struck paydirt and found a nailhead Spalding on HAMB a month or two later. So, I sent it off to Jim and 5-6 weeks later was the proud owner of a refurbished Spalding, see below. Bottom line for anyone in the future reading this thread. 1) Stick a wanted post up on HAMB and bump it regularly. Mine was bumped a few times before someone spotted it. Spaldings for nailheads don't come along that often, I have seen 2 since the start of 2014, missed one by a few weeks and got the other. 2) Whether looking for a conversion or a refurb, reach out to Jim. He does good work but make sure you do communicate well with him your expectations in terms of any deadlines. I was super clear on mine and he delivered. If it is a simple refurb it will be turned around quickly. If a conversion is needed and requires machining it can drag out... I had him supply me with matching coils, spare condensers & points etc too. It was worth the searching, the Spalding pops on any engine. This is the refurbished nailhead unit with early Spalding cap, (later ones had the Grant cap).
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