PT81PlymouthPickup

This is what I thought too. The thing that is confusing me is the manual explicitly states "at distributor rpm" which would be 1/2 of crankshaft rpm. I'm trying to understand why they would state it that way?

Thanks Ken! I re-read my OEM Plymouth service manual more carefully and now I'm more confused. It states: "Automatic mechanical advance curve in degrees of distributor advance at distributor R.P.M." 0 degree at 350rpm, 3 degree at 400, 6 degree at 950, 9 degree at 1500, and 11 degree at 1850. "Vacuum advance curve in degrees of distributor advance with inches of manifold vacuum" 2 degrees with 6-3/4 inches of vacuum and 11 degrees with 17 inches of vacuum. So, If I take this literally, and set my mechanical advance ("at distributor rpm") That would mean I should set it to 0 degree while running the engine at 700 rpm? Not having a tachometer or a vacuum gauge, I set my timing at a very low rpm (with vacuum advance disconnected) at 0 degrees. It runs well there and if I open the throttle it will not go any further than 11 degrees, so I'm assuming the governor is likely working correctly? When I reconnect the vacuum advance line, it stays at 0 degree until I open the throttle and will advance to maximum 22 degree on the crank pulley marks. You're thinking this is likely correct?

Dennis, Does your distributor have a vacuum advance and did you happen to check how much it advanced when you opened the throttle? My 39 Plymouth truck with vacuum advance connected, advances to about 22 degrees before TDC. Seems like too much to me? I'm hoping to make a comparison to see if this is normal?

Will, I'm curious how you came about this car being it was in Georgia U.S. and you are in France? Did you purchase it site unseen and have it shipped?

After rebuilding my distributor and installing Pertronix ignition. I set the timing at spec. using a timing light. The manual I have says it's supposed to be T.D.C. @ 350 rpm on my truck. I tested the mechanical advance and it's 11 degrees @ 1850 rpm or higher, exactly what my manual specifies. With the vacuum advance hooked up it's a different story. My manual says 11 degrees with 17 inches of vacuum. I do not have a vacuum gauge to check it that way, but when I open up the throttle the timing advances to about 22 degrees. I'm thinking this sounds excessive? How much vacuum do our flatheads produce? I was thinking 20 inches? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding how it works? The truck runs well. I'm not noticing any pre-detonation. I opened the vacuum advance and it has 3 washer / shims behind the spring. I doubt there should be more than that in there. Maybe they made different spring tensions? Anyone have any experience with this?

Just a bunch of jealous fellas wishing they found that 41 beauty as you did. ?

An opinion somewhere in the middle on this debate: Being a resto-rod kind of guy, I've made many mods to my truck. Have done so without doing anything irreversible. The purist in me relates to those wanting to preserve an especially pristine original vehicle. Ultimately however, it's just like life. Lot's of people doing stuff we may not agree with. As long as no one is getting hurt it's our prerogative. That said, on some of the street rod shows I've seen, perfect original and restored vehicles get irreversibly chopped up and modified by professional builders for clients with too much money creating overpowered abortions. Build them from wrecked or rusty hulks and build it yourself if you are a real street rodder. Should be a law! Write your representatives! Lols!

SBC and Turbo 400 next? ? We hope not! Lols! Here's one that might aggravate some purists.

Yeah! Lots of junk out there. Waste of time and money. Once you've determined the correct Autolite part # for your distributor you can find NOS ones. There are vendors selling NOS stuff. I've purchased a few from eBay. It will likely cost you a lot more than the cheap repro stuff, but well worth it considering the aggravation this crap causes us. There's still lots of this stuff out there. The condensers however can be an issue, because they can degrade by sitting on a shelf over time. I recently switched to a Pertronix module witch eliminated the points and condenser altogether. So far it seems to work flawlessly. It installed relatively easily.

Does she have a single sister?

Right tool for the job is always the best way! Not the fastest for the first one, but then you have for subsequent jobs. I have a vintage tool for removing spindle dust caps as well. Takes them off without damaging them whatsoever.

Yep! Just about everything is made in China. Does not matter what name is on it. Too many of us (including myself) work around and put up with this crap. We should complain to the sellers and demand quality even if we have to pay more for it. The hubs on my Scarebird kit were of high quality. I inspected them with micrometers, bore gauges, digital calipers, and a vision measuring system. The Dorman dust caps were crap!

Are you certain about that? ? Lols!

If anyone knows of a quality set of these dust caps. Please let us know. I'll gladly throw the Chinese ones in the scrap bin and buy new ones. Lols!

I have two on the bench. #s IG-3927-A and IG-3927G. The 2 cans both measure 11/16 (.6875) in diameter and average 1.67 long. If you add the boss where the wire protrudes, the overall length is about 1.750. These condensers have a welded on bracket with 3 holes. One for a mounting screw the other two for alignment on the breaker plate.

I had issues with Scarebird's dust caps as well. Mine would not stay in. It's funny you brought this up right now, because on another thread I have been ranting about cheap Chinese products making there way on to our vintage cars. I believe that may be what you're dealing with on the dust caps. Being a machinist, I was able to chuck my caps in a lathe and form the steel to a diameter that works. If you have access to a lathe, you may be able to reform them? You can sometimes deform them a bit around the circumference with a dull chisel, but it won't be pretty. I can't remember the exact diameter. If you measure the I.D. carefully of the hub where the caps insert you might be able to find a better quality set? But it's difficult to find. Most all of this stuff comes other countries now and often the manufacturing tolerances are sloppy. Call Mark and perhaps he has a better way?

I have two on the bench. #s IG-3927-A and IG-3927G. The 2 cans both measure 11/16 (.6875) in diameter and average 1.67 long. If you add the boss where the wire protrudes, the overall length is about 1.750. These condensers have a welded on bracket with 3 holes. One for a mounting screw the other two for alignment on the breaker plate.

Sounds like great ideas! Especially so, if you source from the U.S. Why didn't you think of this before I installed Pertronix with Chinese components? Lols! Back on topic! Lols! Competition is good, and I certainly can't blame you for getting a deal, but the Chinese don't play fair. They manipulate currency and subsidize manufacturing along with all the other stated stuff in order to dominate world markets. I've seen many items that are so ridiculously low priced and shipped from the other side of world at less than the material costs here. Does not take a genius to figure what's going on stinks. They are persistent and little by little have inundated, stolen, and are diluting our technical prowess. Much of our now consumer driven economy is reliant on their products. I doubt it's even possible for us to divest at this point? Any Chinese members reading this, please don't be offended. I work at a major university and am friendly with many Chinese students. I have no issue with hard working people. I do have issue with the Chinese government. Anyhow, sorry for the political crap I started! Being interested in history and knowing totalitarianism is on the rise worries me for my children and grandchildren's sake. Maybe I worry too much? My neighbour (an Englishman) tells my "no worries! We used to be the rulers of the world and we're still here drinking pints". Lols!

I'm curious of why you decided to manufacture in China? Just cost? Where there no other alternatives? I'll have to re-read the documents that came with my Ignitor 2. I think I read they are protected from leaving the key on? I believe that's not the case with Ignitor 1? Are you saying there is a cutout relay that could be installed in the circuit easily that would correct this issue? I certainly have left the key on more than one occasion when my points where installed. Wait a minute! Who makes these cutout relays? Lols!

Yeah 50mech! You're going to start another debate with that comment. Lols! Are you certain they're made in the USA? My Pertronix install is coming to a close, but I have a couple breaker plates with NOS points and condensers ready to go back in just in case. I believe in using quality components and willing to pay for them, but as others have suggested, it's becoming difficult to determine what is good and what is not. What is real and what is fake. It's difficult to determine country of origin on products. I want to know where stuff is made, so I can make a choice. Certainly some stuff coming from Asia is of acceptable quality. It just seems disheartening that so many iconic American brands have sold out or off-shored their products there. In my opinion, this is a complex issue with many at fault. Most Americans have become used to, and tolerant of, cheap products. Throw away mentality! Greed for profits at the top of corporations. Inadequate (lack of / too much of) government regulation has incentivized companies to offshore. I do believe world trade is a good thing. Competition is good for quality and pricing. Remember how the Japanese car companies woke up Detroit? BUT, Both Industry and Government have been looking the other way when it comes to dealing with a communist dictatorship such as China. They wanted market access to the largest populous on earth. They wanted to make their products without having to deal with environmental concerns, unions, and human rights issues, where they can't be sued. So, by looking the other way, even while knowing the Chinese government is actively supporting industrial espionage along with a mission to undermine democratic values. They're beating us at our own game by having injected capitalism into their communist system. Becoming a rich powerful nation without democratic principals will cost us much more in the long run. Having a manufacturing career as a Tool and Die-maker, I have witnessed first hand the gradual decline of skilled labour over the last 40+ years. We are losing the ability to build things and do them correctly. There are no longer any formal apprenticeships or schools teaching Tool and Die in my area. Like Rich Hartung suggests, many want someone else to do the work. Like Plymouthy says "no visionaries". I think we have become lazy from too much success of the past. Hopefully, like Los Control suggests, we will wise up? PT81 for President! Lols!

I agree with everyone above. And, in my opinion most all of those additives are just a waste of money. If you really don't want to remove you tank, you might try removing that drain plug on the bottom of the tank. Often they'll come out easily. Use the right wrench and don't put too much force on it in case it's severely rusted in there.They're a tapered plug and should reseal fine especially if you put a little thread sealant on when reinstalling. If the last bit of old fuel isn't chock full of crud and particles of rust? Then just fill with fresh fuel. My truck had only a sediment bowl on the fuel pump. I installed a inline filter before the pump and all is well. Keep an eye on the sediment bowl. You might have to clean it a couple times until the lines are purged of whatever crud might have been in there. Like stated above, the surest way is to remove the tank and inspect. Sometimes these old tanks are UN-salvageable. They make brand new ones for my era truck 39-47, ($250) I'm not sure about your year? AND! Whatever you do when working around gasoline, make sure you have no sources of ignition. Just a light bulb in a drop light if broken could ruin your day or worse.

Geez! They got me again. Just received a new set of Autolite 295 spark plugs I purchased online for my Plymouth. Made in China! ? Are any of the old iconic American brand name automotive parts made here anymore? ?

1 to 2mm is about 1/16 inch. I don't think it would hardly run at all with that amount? I had an indicated .012" slop in mine and that was enough to make it run rough at mid range rpm but it started and idled well. Once inside the distributor I found the advance governor was completely worn out as well. It's not a bad job if you have some experience with mechanics and press / slip fits with bushings. You do need to be pretty fussy to rebuild one correctly. You should also check for bad grounds. The distributor housing needs a good ground to the block. That might be why it changed when you applied pressure? Check the ground strap inside the distributor as well.

Hi Dingo, I'm one of those that Jolly suggests. Not against changing things, but being partially a purest, any changes I make can be relatively easily reversed and I've made a bunch of them on my 39 Plymouth PT. I think many on this sight might agree with me or even be more conservative about changing up our Mopars too much? If you are not aware? There is a website THE H.A.M.B. at https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/ that I have found the best when it comes to the questions like you've asked. Lots of experienced car builders on there willing to share their knowledge and experience. On occasion, I'll catch a street rod building show where they'll take a beautifully restored or pristine original car and chop it up in all directions to build someone with too much money an abortion (in my opinion). I can appreciate the fabrication skills, but there should be a law! Lols! ?

Nah! I don't hate the player or the game! Just enjoy pulling the chain. ?