distributor ccw cc reverse turning

#1
Got a question if ya spin a distributor backwards will it work . In like a clock wise turning counter clock wise . Needing to put a distributor in a 4 cylinder and can't find the Wright one so lookin at making one fit off a tractor . Not sure if it spins Wright or not yet got a few choices on it .
 
#2
I would think the biggest problem would be the mechanical advance mechanism. If you turn it backwards it would want to push the weights out at any RPM. :shrug:

The points are designed to have the pivot leading not the contact leading also.

Not saying that it wont work but it surely wont work as it was designed.

Just curious, what are you needing a distributor for?

Doug
 
#3
Ok so it may work it may not .
Lookin to put a distributor in a model a block .i got a b distributor that would be. Cool to ues if it wasnt empty no guts are usable . So lookin at making a tratractor one work as a little lathe work and the housing will fit and the shaft should be easy to get close to time .
One of them i got time to spend but money not so much . What can i dig out of the trees and run down the road . Ya know daddy o ? Think way back hot roding what we got and can make fit .
 
#4
Think way back hot roding what we got and can make fit .
It sure wouldn't have been a Model A engine going in to it. More likely that engine would have been used on the farm to power a hay stacker, and a Fireball straight 8, or one of the new Nailheads or Ford L heads would have been shoved in.

I'm fortunate enough to hang out with the guys who were doing this back in the day, and yes, they do call me a kid. They didn't pull apart tractors from the junk yards.

When considering running a distributer backwards, think about the myriad counter-rotating dual marine engine applications over the years when twin power plants were used. It was done all the time. Granted, your points orientation might not be conducive to longevity as Doug points out.

And in keeping with the off topic thread in the US Vintage Mini Bike forum, here is a friend's 33 five window. He spent over ten years building this. It is chopped, channeled, and powered by a Buick Nailhead, running Hilborn injection, Muncie 4 speed, Hildebrand rear end.

33 Ford.jpg
 
#5
Nice car wow bet that gets some looks .
And i know that the hotrods would be built with a hoter engines in the mix. But im going with what i got in the spirit of the old days . And in the way it was around here you used what you got and ya its a old farm aa motor . Tired and weak but like a little kid to me it has all the power in the world . My hot rod a not how it was back then with parts and stuff but still fun and thats what counts for really when the funs gone ......
 
#6
Nice car wow bet that gets some looks .
And i know that the hotrods would be built with a hoter engines in the mix. But im going with what i got in the spirit of the old days . And in the way it was around here you used what you got and ya its a old farm aa motor . Tired and weak but like a little kid to me it has all the power in the world . My hot rod a not how it was back then with parts and stuff but still fun and thats what counts for really when the funs gone ......
I was being facetious. I am lucky enough to live in the Hot Rod capital, at least in cars per capita. Our friend Doug has said the old school stuff is gone, and that "we" (60 year olds) are the new "flat head" guys. Where I live, the old flat head guys are still around, still messing with cars, still drinking beer and doing burn outs in neighborhoods. There are at least 25 hot rod clubs in this town, none of them allow cars newer than 1972. Our largest car show is 800 cars, and there are probably 50 shows per year in the area.

What I liked about that 33, is that it's a five window, it's a steel, original car, and it is channeled. No one channels anymore, and the owner did the entire car in his garage, despite battling illness.

My father grew up doing what you are doing right now, with the A's and the tractor parts. That is why I made the hay stacker reference. As a kid, we'd visit a lot of the different farms in the state right next to you, where we lived and everyone had a chassis of some kind with a fork or a rake on it.

I have my own muscle car and my bikes and karts, but the other day, my wife and I were underneath her Pontiac dropping the fuel tank to change the fuel pump, and then the plug wires, and a helicoil in a plug hole, because that stuff ripped and stripped removing it to check for fuel and spark during troubleshooting. It's a 2004 car with 130K on it. It is virtually worthless, but it is a matter of pride to keep it running, keep it looking nice, (I ran the cutting compound and polish on it the other day) and not discarding it. Just because I can. So yeah, I get it. :thumbsup:
 
#7
Ok so it may work it may not .
Lookin to put a distributor in a model a block .i got a b distributor that would be. Cool to ues if it wasnt empty no guts are usable . So lookin at making a tratractor one work as a little lathe work and the housing will fit and the shaft should be easy to get close to time .
One of them i got time to spend but money not so much . What can i dig out of the trees and run down the road . Ya know daddy o ? Think way back hot roding what we got and can make fit .
Looks to me like you can buy an original A bone distributor fairly cheap...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-A-Di...830199?hash=item44206d9b37:g:kvwAAOSwgStbDWJS

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=model+a+distidutor&_sacat=0
 
#8
Wow it would be cool to hang out with all the old flat head guys and see there toys . Most of the old timers around here have that toss it out its junk attitude . Sad to see our past tossed out like that .
 
#9
A couple of my hotrod builds.

12799333_10206927971175977_7856346715404137062_n.jpg

The advance/retard mechanism, and points direction of contact, should be about it. Some advancers can be flipped. Or welded fixed.

Reverse rotation boat engines almost always run the cam in the original direction via different timing set, chain vs gear. Oil pump and dizzy just work better that way.
 
#10
Reverse rotation boat engines almost always run the cam in the original direction via different timing set, chain vs gear. Oil pump and dizzy just work better that way.
:thumbsup: Thanks for correcting me. The cams were ground differently as you say, and then the (right hand) distributor gears were ground differently to fit the cam so they could spin the same direction as the original. (left side)

Good post Fire Power!
 
#11
Ok cool thanks for the info . I never tried to mess with a distributor like this before. But having the block and some 4 popper distributor to mess with and the tools to mod the housings im up to try it and see if it will work . My stupid attempt at building a car i cant afford to.. build . Mabe not the way to do it building it from what i can scavenge from the bush and junk piles but its what i can afford and what i have . So like i had to do my whole life make do with what i have and if that dont work make something that does .
My metal working skills have come from years of not having the parts i needed or not being able to afford a good one and tryin to fix a bad one .

Like this car someone else had done piles of work on it and it fell in to disrepair and pushed in to bush to rot . Till i seen it and got it out of the woods and started to repair it . Building a dream of having a car like that but never having the money to get one . Ya mountains of work to rebuild it but its fun thats why i got it this is my skill what im good at . But i will need help as i dont know much on some of it . And the old boys around here dont remember any more or never worked on stuff like this .
But thank you for the info on distributors help full . And ya have a good day boys and girls , im goin to play with my ford .

Its a good day when you can smile
 
Top