That is an interesting set of pictures - some are very useful for practical explanation.

There were some things I noticed - I've never seen a reluctor that didn't just have the two roll pin slots 180° apart. If they did have some leeway to "advance" or "retard" the trigger it would be useful when checking the "phasing" the distributor cap. I thought about filing a new slot in one a time or two - but didn't try it yet. 

The stop pin that engages the advance limit slots - on all of the undisturbed distributors I've dismantled, it had a little plastic tubing jacket. Removing this cover would change the total travel in the slot by a bit - but I don't remember a "13L" or "10L" slot that didn't net the correct degrees at the crank when I left the tubing in place(?).

After all of the explanation they did - why no discussion of initial, centrifugal, and vacuum advance? Must be for "advanced" hobbyists.......!   

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Here's something useful for reworking the Duraspark internals.



http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com/Duraspark_distributor_recurve_instructions_index.html


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie: Somewhere up this thread was the "exploded" version of the distributor assembly drawing. I've got a better one - it must be mislabeled somewhere.....

Step one is to remove the vacuum can  - then pull or pry the reluctor (armature?) up off  the shaft. The stator coil with base plate and pivot mechanism is next. This photo also shows the "color" code Ford used for the various wire leads. Violet and Orange on the stator coil - Black is the ground to the distributor body coming back from the controller. Just barely visible is the loose end of the Green wire that goes over to the (-) side of the coil.

The Stator/baseplate/pivot needs to be in good shape - it can be disassembled at the pivot - but be very carefull of the lock ring. When I've got them all cleaned up and ready to go - I lube these joints with Motorcraft caliper grease - something that can take the temperature.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Oh, ok.  I was wondering why yours looks so new.  Both of the distributors I got these out of were all rusty.  Am I right that the reluctor has to be pried off in order to get to the advance mechanism and springs?  I might try to get the reluctors off tomorrow.


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie - usually I can get the reluctors off by sraying a little WD40 on the joint with the upper shaft - then using a pair of screw drivers to lever them up. Seems like I've got a little puller around here that works too. The reluctor itself is a relatively cheap service part at NAPA - you could maybe just cut it off with a little grinding wheel. The "hard to get" part is the swiveling base for the stator coil.'

I've built four of these distributors now and had to polish the upper shafts a bit to get the parts to slide together with a snug fit. I put a new reluctor and roll pin in all four of them.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I got two of these at the junkyard today!

Steve, does the reluctor come off and go on easily once the roll pin is driven out?  It all seems to be stuck together as a unit until the reluctor is removed.  I had to destroy some advance springs at the junkyard in order to get one of them out of the distributor.  I managed to get the springs off of the other with a screwdriver through the hole in the plate.  It seems like it could be a bit of a chore to swap advance springs.

Lawrenceville, GA

i been somewhat busy, got my ASE master last year, but they dont want to pay me much so i got to work my butt off.





turbo is on hold till i can sort out fueling system, I really hate carburetor, so I went to fuel injection, still working a few kinks out, will post about EFI when I got it to run the way i want.



also been working on my MR2 so meh.



but Its definitly going to be turbo'd

I believe I'll go with a Pertronix set up. Thanks, RGrove & all. I appreciate your input... /Duck

BOO- YA!!!

Charlie - Yes this is the Ford color code for systems built after 1975 and its the simple system with no computer control of the timing etc. Holun has a site that used to show the whole T-bird ignition wiring scheme I drew up to keep from getting lost. If someone has a system set up with the "blue grommet" style of Ford controller - the GM gadget I showed earlier in the thread will simply plug in and run it (you might take out the ballast resistor). This should still work.....

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mshum/HoLun/WIRINGSCHEMATICT-BIRD1.jpg

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Steve, You do some pretty nifty stuff. Do the wire colors you posted correspond with the Duraspark wiring? Does the 4 wire one go to the reluctor and the two wire, with the red wire, for power? I like the custom look this would add.


Lawrenceville, GA