Peter R. Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 We decided to reproduce early 4 cyl. Cadillac distributor caps. Anyone out there interested in caps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 8 hours ago, Peter R. said: We decided to reproduce early 4 cyl. Cadillac distributor caps. Anyone out there interested in caps? When I had my 1914, five years ago, they were easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsfarms Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Does this cap interchange with anything else? Delco? Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) Al, We will make two different caps with one steel mold. These two caps will service the following Delco 4 cyl. "Twist'n'Lock" caps: Delco # 11194 & 12281 1914-15 Buick 1913-15 Cole 1913 Hudson 1914-15 Moon 1913-15 Oakland 1914-15 Oldsmobile 1913-15 Paterson 1915 Westcott Delco # 11250 1913 Cadillac Delco # 11643 1911-12 Cadillac Delco # 11644 1914 Cadillac 1916 Ahrens Fox Delco # 12851 1917-18 Dodge Delco # 11745 & 13852 1916-18 Buick 1916 Davis 1916-17 Elcar 1919 Essex 1917 GMC Truck 1918 Nash Truck 1916 Oakland 1916 Oldsmobile 1919 Seagrave 1918-19 Stutz The caps will be quality reproductions made of Bakelite. Edited June 11, 2020 by Peter R. (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsfarms Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Thanks for including the other applications for the reproduced caps you will be involved with. That information may help other antique automobile enthusiasts as well. I will send you a PM to discuss further. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 I found a total of 8 different Delco «Twist’n’Lock» type caps that had been used on cars and trucks from 1911 to 1919: # 11194 # 11250 # 11643 # 11644 # 11745 # 12281 # 12851 # 13852 These caps can be divided into 3 basic styles: Early 1911-14 style - Cap # 11194, 11250, 11643 and 11644 1915-16 style - Cap # 11745 and 12281 Late 1917-19 style - Cap # 12851 and 13852 Pictures tell more than thousand words – see for yourself below. Note the position of the locking notch. On some caps it is located between two terminals and on some it is in line with a terminal. When going through my parts books I noticed that sometimes there are two different caps listed for a particular car application. For example 1916-18 Buick. In earlier books I find cap # 11745 to be correct on a 1916 Buick and in later books it says # 13852. Cap # 11745 is a 1915-16 style cap and # 13852 is a later 1917-19 style cap. So I believe when someone bought a new Buick in 1916, the car was equipped with a # 11745 cap and 1917 cars were equipped with the superseding cap # 13852. If a 1916 Buick owner needed a replacement in 1917 he must have gotten a # 13852 cap once # 11745 stock was exhausted. I may be wrong but it seems obvious to me. However, I think the best solution would be to reproduce a basic 1915-16 style cap and finish it with different locking notch positions. In other words, we reproduce caps # 11745 and # 12281, which can be used on 1911-14 Cadillacs as well (# 12281). Caps used on 1914 Cadillacs might need a slight modification. Hope this sheds some light on the topic. Any comments, concerns or questions appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) From the photos, it looks like the notches are in different spots related to number one. Remember many early cars distributor housings are fixed, and can not be turned to get the timing correct like a modern post war distributor. If done well, and price is reasonable, you should not have much problem selling them. Material is critical, and many people are using epoxy resin to make caps..........much of what I see isn't well done. Also incorrect color is often off putting to many people. Edited June 11, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 Thanks for the hint. I forgot to mention that we won't number the terminals because of different firing orders or directions of rotation. Some aftermarket ignition parts manufacturer such as Gilfillan etc. leave away terminal numbers too so they can cover two part numbers with one cap in order to save cost. As an example, Auto-Lite caps IGH-1029, IGH-1045, IGH-1063 and IGH-(Cord V8 Supercharged - I forgot the number) are physically the same caps. The only difference seems to be the terminal numbers. Turning a distributor housing doesn’t change the relative position of a rotor tip to the cap contact when a breaker point separates (a movable breaker plate will). Old distributors usually have movable cams to set timing. Interesting to see on the above cap # 13852 picture is that someone modified the cap by adding a second locking notch to it so it can be used on a Cadillac or 1914-15 Buick etc. I’m aware of them epoxy resin reproductions that are currently flooding the market. We’re not doing phenolic resin repros. Our caps are quality reproductions made of Bakelite. We have all necessary equipment to do professional Bakelite reproductions. So far we have made around 15 different caps, rotors, fuse boxes etc. The caps are being pressed in a heated steel mold. Of course it’s a huge effort and the manufacturing of a steel mold is expensive but it’s worth it. The price of a cap largely depends on how many caps we can sell and how complicated a cap is. This particular cap is not complicated and easy to reproduce. So I expect it to be fairly cheap compared with the price of a NOS cap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old buicks 2 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I have already reproduced these caps and have several left for sale. This project was done about 5 - 7 years ago and I have sold several with no complaints. Email me for details. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 The similar 6 cylinder caps would have a big following.......for Pierce Arrows and Packards of the 1920's. Would love to see a YouTube video of a cap that is in production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) We can virtually reproduce any distributor cap to highest standards if there's a demand. See how a Bosch ZR6 two spark magneto cap is being pressed: Edited June 11, 2020 by Peter R. (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 See how an early 8 cyl. Bosch distributor cap is being developed and pressed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz2TZtlooFI&list=PL8wktdpTvoBEq5ssPKRle6CYMB1mtGvUP&index=13&t=0s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Sorensen Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I would be interested in at least one but I would have to have some idea of the price before I comitt. Henry Sorensen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Peter, video is fantastic. And the process is very impressive. I would love to visit the plant and see it for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieBuick Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Peter, have you considered producing distributor . Caps for early twenties 4 cyclinder Buicks ? Norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 wer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Sorensen Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 On 6/9/2020 at 12:56 PM, Peter R. said: We decided to reproduce early 4 cyl. Cadillac distributor caps. Anyone out there interested in caps? I am definitely interested in a cap. If you can give me a solid price I will place my order immediatly. Henry Sorensen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Desma Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I would definitely be interested in a cap and could probably get others in the 16-18 4cyl Buick group to join in to help bring cost down. -Bryan Desma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fdtraining Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Need help finding this cap…it’s on a 1917 Ahrens Fox 4 cylinder. Not sure it’s the same as the one listed for the 1916 above. No markings found so trying to narrow it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 Finally the mold is ready and we'll soon be pressing the first caps.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted May 19, 2022 Author Share Posted May 19, 2022 The phase of trials has been successfully completed and we are running production now. The final stage will be machining and testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 Delco 12281 1914-15 Buick 1914-15 Catercar 1913-15 Cole 1913 Hudson 1914-15 Keeton 1914-15 Moon 1913-15 Oakland 1914-15 Oldsmobile 1913-15 Paterson 1916 Sayers-Scovill 1915-16 Westcott Also to be used to replace the caps on 1911-13 Cadillacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 On 6/11/2020 at 8:06 PM, edinmass said: The similar 6 cylinder caps would have a big following.......for Pierce Arrows and Packards of the 1920's. Ed, Were you talking about the caps as used on the P/A double distributor and/or the Packard Single Six/Twin Six caps? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimy Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Have you done those too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 3 minutes ago, Grimy said: Have you done those too? Not yet...just thinking about other caps being worth to be done.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted May 26, 2022 Author Share Posted May 26, 2022 https://www.roland-merz.de/video/Verteilerkappe RM 15 1040 für Buike intern.mp4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyjay Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 On 5/24/2022 at 9:48 PM, Peter R. said: Not yet...just thinking about other caps being worth to be done.... Have you done any for the 8 cylinder Cadillacs of the 1920s+? Seems like a redo for these Delco caps would help a lot of brands and years too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 3:08 AM, Sunnyjay said: Have you done any for the 8 cylinder Cadillacs of the 1920s+? Seems like a redo for these Delco caps would help a lot of brands and years too. I haven't considered doing this cap yet as I still have a bunch of them in stock. But we certainly could if there's a demand. PS: I just needed one last week for a 24 Cadillac. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 Delco 12281 1914-15 Buick 1914-15 Catercar 1913-15 Cole 1913 Hudson 1914-15 Keeton 1914-15 Moon 1913-15 Oakland 1914-15 Oldsmobile 1913-15 Paterson 1916 Sayers-Scovill 1915-16 Westcott Also to be used to replace the caps on 1911-13 Cadillacs We just tested the cap on a 1913 Cadillac in Germany and it proved to be good in all respects. The caps can be purchased from Tom VanMeeteren. He's the distributor in the US. Tom VanMeeteren 402-359-5762 or tsvanmeet@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 Our Delco # 12281 repro on the right and an original Delco # 11250 on the left. 11250 had been made exclusively for the 1913 Cadillac. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 3 hours ago, Peter R. said: Our Delco # 12281 repro on the right and an original Delco # 11250 on the left. 11250 had been made exclusively for the 1913 Cadillac. Would the numbers have originally been part of the casting or engraved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 On 7/2/2022 at 11:28 PM, hidden_hunter said: Would the numbers have originally been part of the casting or engraved? On 12281 (1915-16 style cap) the numbers had originally been part of the casting. Our repro does not have numbers but they could still be engraved if required. On earlier 1911-14 style caps you’ll find both; the numbers were either engraved or they were part of the casting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agota F. Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 On 7/2/2022 at 7:57 PM, Peter R. said: I haven't considered doing this cap yet as I still have a bunch of them in stock. But we certainly could if there's a demand. PS: I just needed one last week for a 24 Cadillac. Hi, I'm looking for a distributor cap for a 1918 Cadillac. Do you have this type in stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old buicks 2 Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Agota F noticed your post looking for a 1918 Cadillac cap. I am the distributor of the new bakelite caps here in the US as mentioned up a couple of threads. I do have a cap for an 18. Where are you located? If you are in Europe, Peter will better serve you because of shipping. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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