Technical Spalding Flamethrower distributor

I am in possession of an orange Spalding Flamethrower distributor set up for a Ford Flathead 2 bolt front mount. The problem I have is obtaining technical information on the component parts and finding spare parts as necessary. I have a problem with the advance weights fitted to the base plate. The two pot metal weights appear to have been overtightened back in the day and hence the pot metal weights' mounting point is broken.

I am hoping for a couple of bits of information please:

• Does anyone have access to technical information on the distributor?
• Is it possible to obtain replacement advance weights?

Please note I have sent a PM to "Bubba" along these lines, however I have not had a response at this stage.

Any help in this regard is greatly appreciated. Please PM David or email me at dwjamies@outlook.com if you can ***ist in any way.

Thanks

David Jamieson
61-403368497

 

If you are referring to Jim Linder, AKA Bubba, who was the owner of Vintage Ignition Service in Speedway, IN he p***ed away a couple years ago.

 

I may be wrong, but I think Bubba p***ed away a while back. Please forgive me if I'm wrong.
Ther are some already great threads on here regarding the distributor.

@Fordors, you and I must of sent our messages at the same time, cheers

 

@1933phaeton PM me your email and I can send you a couple bits of info I've found on the flamethrower.

I made new steel weights for mine, on a flathead Cadillac. They weigh within a few grams of the originals. (At least the weight of all the potmetal pieces I could find in the flamethrower) I'll need to dial in a curve later.

 

To all respondents, thank you for your responses. Apologies I was not aware Bubba had p***ed. My sincere condolences to his family. See attached a picture of the weights I am looking to replace. If anyone can ***ist me with the replacement of these parts please contact me at dwjamies@outlook.com or PM me on the HAMB

Thanks David

 

Dear Sir, I have posted a picture of the parts I am chasing below in this thread. Hopefully you can ***ist me here, regards David (dwjamies@outlook.com)

 

See my post above. They're really not difficult to carve out of steel. Rough cut with a hacksaw, fine tune with files. Use your old ones for templates, pop the pins out of the pot metal ones and press them into holes in the steel ones. A bit of weld on the bottom of each pin and grind them smooth.

 

OK, thanks I will have a go myself. What about the weight variance between original and new made weights. Did you balance the weights? thanks David

 

Make 'em out of steel then drill holes (more or less evenly spaced) until the weights match up.

 

In my first photo above you will see a couple extra holes that were drilled in order to get the weight down to match the original pot metal ones. The steel ones are identical as far as weight.

 

I'm on my 3rd car with one and love 'em - lots of threads on here when you search.

Bubba was the king! Few things I learned:
Bubba insisted on running the blue Bosch coils to keep from burning the internal rotor and cap (one of the treads below has a similar alternative coil). Use the capacitors that Alky Digger carries, good quality.
If you remove the top plates you'll need access to a distributor machine to sync the two 4 cyl ignitions together. I ended up buying and rebuilding a distributor machine just to do mine - and found out I was off a couple degrees.
I mark my plug wires to make sure they go all the way down in the cap - I had an issue where they click and feel seated but they were not. I widen or close each wire terminal to get a good contact.
No parts available but these were build really well (except for the weights), most the caps are good shape and thick br***, the rotors polish up easy. Bearings are common size and easy to find.

There are more threads, but these cover some that might help you with your questions...
Coils/parts/weights & springs:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/spalding-grant-flamethrower-technical-thread.1339279/

Instructions:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ethrower-install-service-instructions.470206/