Dandy Dave Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Is it just me? Or is it replacement parts from the land of nearly right not made exactly like the originals? Helped an old friend out with a 1930 Tudor. Complaint. The car started backfiring and spitting and quit. I got a call to come and diagnose the issue. This car still has the original style points plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 21, 2023 Author Share Posted May 21, 2023 I start checking stuff and while I'm at it I check the points setting. The points have closed up. I adjust them and we took the car for a drive. It started OK at first and idled fine. Down the driveway was OK. Pulled out on the road and it started skipping and back firing in short order. Nurse it back to the shop. Checking other stuff. Fuel flow, etc. Get back around to the Distributer and the points have closed up again. Loosen the locking screw, readjust the points, tighten the locking screw. Get everything back together. Down the driveway and the same the same thing. Runs good at first and then starts to run rough, skip, and back fire. Back to the garage. I pull the distributor out and spin it to check the bushings. They seem fine. I think there must be something simple and stupid wrong here. Something that is being over looked. I grab a screw driver and try to adjust the points without un locking the screw that clamps them. The threaded part of the points turns with no resistance. The fix was to open up the slot in the clamp with a hack saw so it could clamp down a little better. Another problem I found is the adjustment on the bottom to get the points lined up did not move as far as it should to get complete contact. Look at the second photo. Better in the third photo but still not quite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 21, 2023 Author Share Posted May 21, 2023 I put in in a vice and with a round file I cut the hole so that the adjuster had a little more travel. That got the points to line up better. Also the clamp worked and held the threaded point from turning and putting the car out of time. The car now runs fine. I know that some Model A Ford folks use the newer style plate with the modern points. The fellow that owns this one likes to stick with the original designed stuff. Hope this helps someone that is having these similar problems. 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 I'm not a model a guy but I quite like Paul Shinn on youtube talking about Model A's, he just did a video on rebuilding the distributor which is well worth the watch 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 17 hours ago, hidden_hunter said: I'm not a model a guy but I quite like Paul Shinn on youtube talking about Model A's, he just did a video on rebuilding the distributor which is well worth the watch Yup. If they only had these new fangled cameras back when I was a young un I'd of been all over it. I got my first Model A when I was 12 years old. One of the first problems I encountered was a short in the cable from the ignition switch to the distributor. A lot of the time I look at that stuff and think, I've been there, I've done that. Sometimes can't remember it has been so long ago. I've been figuring out problems for myself a lot longer than you tube has been around and also before most folks on there have been born. Between my machining skills, and over 50 years of wrenching on stuff, I'm not sure there's much they could tell me about old autos or vintage equipment. I should buy one of those cameras and film some of the stuff I do, and have done, and add some good video to my meager You Tube channel. I have a simple camera that does not film but maybe 3 minutes. I do however find it sometimes useful for these newer computerized autos and trucks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlestown Mike Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 quote "replacement parts from the land of nearly right " Now that right there is funny. Thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Littlestown Mike said: quote "replacement parts from the land of nearly right " Now that right there is funny. Thanks That is the biggest problem. 90 + years ago stuff was made by the manufacturer to fit and work right. Why cant we reproduce that today?..??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldford Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Dave, this is a known problem with the newer point sets from the "Land of nearly right." The point arm is made too long and does not line up properly with the post. Snyder's has a new point block that fixes this problem by moving the post just enough to have the two points line up. No need to ream the mounting hole. I had a similar problem with my AA when the fiber cam follower on the points wore down in less than 100 miles. The truck ran so hot due to the retarded timing. I had to throw the points away and replace them with a set of Echlin points from NAPA. Made in Mexico NOT China... Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brass is Best Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 It is a good idea to inspect all "new" parts and compare them to the old part you are replacing. Never trust a new part. Dale Earnhardt lost the Daytona 500 once because of an inexpensive part failure. After that every "new" part that was purchased by his race shop was inspected and tested before use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Some of the problem must be that these foreign countries use a different measuring system than the factories did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepher Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 On 5/21/2023 at 4:22 AM, hidden_hunter said: I'm not a model a guy but I quite like Paul Shinn on youtube talking about Model A's, he just did a video on rebuilding the distributor which is well worth the watch I do not own a Ford Model A, but I have enjoyed many of Paul's videos and I have chatted with Paul online. He seems like a genuinely nice guy that just wants to help others with Model As and to get information out there to help whomever he can. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, zepher said: I do not own a Ford Model A, but I have enjoyed many of Paul's videos and I have chatted with Paul online. He seems like a genuinely nice guy that just wants to help others with Model As and to get information out there to help whomever he can. That's my kind of guy. 🙂 I did watch the Video. He does do a nice thorough job of explaining things. I can see where this would be useful to folks that have never been that deep in one. I've worked on long shaft distributors before also. I do agree that it is better to have good original parts. In my case the fellow needs the car for the memorial day parade in his area. I did what I needed to make it work. Edited May 22, 2023 by Dandy Dave (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, oldford said: Dave, this is a known problem with the newer point sets from the "Land of nearly right." The point arm is made too long and does not line up properly with the post. Snyder's has a new point block that fixes this problem by moving the post just enough to have the two points line up. No need to ream the mounting hole. I had a similar problem with my AA when the fiber cam follower on the points wore down in less than 100 miles. The truck ran so hot due to the retarded timing. I had to throw the points away and replace them with a set of Echlin points from NAPA. Made in Mexico NOT China... Frank Thanks for the tip Frank. I'll keep that in mind. I've also had that problem with the fiber wearing on other things in the past. I have buffed and polished the cams to get them silky smooth. I can't believe the amount of stuff I have worked on that no one has put some grease on the fiber either. Then they wonder why the points wear so fast.🙃 Like Brill cream. A little dab will do ya. 😁 Edited May 22, 2023 by Dandy Dave (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brass is Best Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 18 hours ago, JFranklin said: Some of the problem must be that these foreign countries use a different measuring system than the factories did. Most of the problem is that they just do not care. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlestown Mike Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 On 5/23/2023 at 8:35 AM, Brass is Best said: Most of the problem is that they just do not care. That makes them not too different from some US manufacturers. Quality Control is expensive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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