TrampSteer Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) My daughter and I were a little concerned that we just might have stranded ourselves this morning. After having stopped by the welder to convince him to put in some hard points for seat-belts ( he flat out refused ) we could not warm start. Had gas. Had spark (coil) and there was compression coming in. Huh? We just drove it two minutes ago? We ended up scraping off the crusties on the distributor roter (center post) to fire it up. Just build up on something I have not touched in the year of getting this running. In the POST excursion that we had the rest of the day ( auto part store, mechanic, muffler shop, beach for a walk where we saw a stranded baby seal) the truck was fine. So, I had better do that basic mechanic's maintenance I was taught by my dad. But that is where I started having issues. When I was a young man, driving a 70's purple Gremlin with flapping rusted side panels and a carburetor you had to make sure you tightened the bolts on once in a while - I regularly replaced points, condenser and rotor when doing service. Just plug in your car and poof - parts. Now when I try to order, I get what seem like disclaimers. That this is for an IAC type distributor. Or some other, or that it works for a pile of different ones. OK, knuckle down. You just gotta learn something new. But I couldn't learn something new. The only thing I could ultimately do was crawl under the truck and look at the tag. Thanks to everyone here in the past that let me know that I HAD TO look for a tag (find the distributor type) and how. But hint: you don't have to take it out if you have a cell phone that you can stuff in with the left hand while holding a flashlight in the other. So I could get parts. Did in fact, from NAPA. Had them all in stock. But it IRKS me that I don't understand this distributor prefix. And I am not finding anything that tells me what is going on here. So the question: What do the distributor types mean? Google is oddly silent. IGC - IAD - IAO - IAP - IAT - IMConfused Thanks Mike Edited March 8, 2015 by TrampSteer Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 Those letter codes tell what group of years distributors fit internal external indexing tabs on the distributor caps... the outside diametor style of caps, type/style of rotor, clockwise or CCW contact point type and type of condensor. The letter codes also define type of vacumn advance and centrifical weight definations and more! 3 Quote
Brent B3B Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 I don't know the correct answer but I' ll throw another one on the list. My 52 b3hh has IAY I was under the impression IAP was for plymounth (only because one of my b3b has it with a Plymouth block) and IAT was truck. Shows you how uneducated I am...... Quote
ruff1148kr Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 Sorry about your dizzy troubles, but job getting it fixed with your cell phone pic. 1 Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 I found that all replacement parts are not created equal either. In particular some of the point sets out there are quite inferior. One thing I have noticed after switching over to a Pertronix set up is that the cap and rotor stay nice and clean now. No sign of arcing at all. Jeff 2 Quote
Don Coatney Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 I found that all replacement parts are not created equal either. In particular some of the point sets out there are quite inferior. One thing I have noticed after switching over to a Pertronix set up is that the cap and rotor stay nice and clean now. No sign of arcing at all. Jeff You may make a believer out of me. Quote
wayfarer Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) Although many folks seemingly have good experiences with pertronix, I also hear stories about lack of readily available replacement parts so I'll stick with an all Mopar conversion for my needs. Electronic stuff can die at any time for any number of reasons but I know that every parts house has Mopar replacement parts in stock. Just me.... Edited March 8, 2015 by wayfarer Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 I am not trying to sell anyone on this conversion. I did it because to me it eliminates a few bits that I just wasn't too keen on. With the stock set up and available replacement points I kept seeing build up on the points after fairly short use. I decided that I did not want to continue fussing with the points gap so I went this direction. At least with this mod I was able to retain the stock distributor. Fit and forget with no adjustments. Certainly there are other options. I would just say that any electronics are subject to failure. For that reason I have a spare module and matched coil in the truck. Should this one ever fail it is a easy 15 minute roadside fix at most. About the only other thing I would like to do with the ignition system is to add a graduated scale with a click type adjuster to the distributor mount. I have had a mount like this on a few engines I have owned and it just makes setting or adjusting the timing that much easier. Jeff Quote
Don Coatney Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 About the only other thing I would like to do with the ignition system is to add a graduated scale with a click type adjuster to the distributor mount. I have had a mount like this on a few engines I have owned and it just makes setting or adjusting the timing that much easier. Jeff Would this adjuster be adjustable from the drivers seat? Race mode, economy mode, ETC? Believe the Model T had such an adjustment. Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 Would this adjuster be adjustable from the drivers seat? Race mode, economy mode, ETC? Believe the Model T had such an adjustment. Don; I don't know if it needs to go that direction. The item I was thinking about adding had a spring loaded detent adjuster knob. It allows for small adjustments to be made without the use of a wrench. It is kind of a nice feature. Some Lucas distributors came with them fitted from the factory. My old Healy had one. You could zero it out with a wrench and a timing light and then just use the knob to set the final timing. As I recall it had a adjustment range of about 12 or so degrees. Jeff 1 Quote
DJ194950 Posted March 8, 2015 Report Posted March 8, 2015 Jeff, You build it and they will come! Buy it! Quote
olddodgeguy Posted March 9, 2015 Report Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) The Pertronics unit I used came with a replacement plate for the distributor so as a spare I carried the original plate complete with new points and capacitor so if I had a problem a 10 minute job to switch plates. Never had a problem in the 15 years I drove the truck and my buddy that I sold the truck too is still running the original Pertronics without any probems. Going on 20 years now. Mike Edited March 9, 2015 by olddodgeguy Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 10, 2015 Report Posted March 10, 2015 The Pertronics unit I used came with a replacement plate for the distributor so as a spare I carried the original plate complete with new points and capacitor so if I had a problem a 10 minute job to switch plates. Never had a problem in the 15 years I drove the truck and my buddy that I sold the truck too is still running the original Pertronics without any probems. Going on 20 years now. Mike That is good to hear. I am not really expecting problems with mine either. It just seemed prudent to get the spare and have it on board now. As an old offshore boater and desert rider I have always tried to carry a set of vital spares and tools. And old habits like that die hard. Some folks don't think anything of calling for a tow ......... my feeling is If I have done my job right and have prepared properly I shouldn't have to. Jeff 1 Quote
TrampSteer Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Posted March 10, 2015 I found that all replacement parts are not created equal either. In particular some of the point sets out there are quite inferior. One thing I have noticed after switching over to a Pertronix set up is that the cap and rotor stay nice and clean now. No sign of arcing at all. Jeff I was just talking to my mechanic friend this evening about this. He says be very careful not to buy the inexpensive points, as they are of an aluminum construction and will not last. Pay for the better copper, steel or whatever. We'll see what I find at NAPA tomorrow. Mike Quote
deathbound Posted March 10, 2015 Report Posted March 10, 2015 I was just talking to my mechanic friend this evening about this. He says be very careful not to buy the inexpensive points, as they are of an aluminum construction and will not last. Pay for the better copper, steel or whatever. We'll see what I find at NAPA tomorrow. Mike I thought you were going to get them yesterday..... 1 Quote
TrampSteer Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Posted March 10, 2015 I thought you were going to get them yesterday..... If I did everything I said I was going to when I intended to, this truck and the next two trucks would be finished already! 3 Quote
deathbound Posted March 10, 2015 Report Posted March 10, 2015 If I did everything I said I was going to when I intended to, this truck and the next two trucks would be finished already! Just giving you a hard time, Mike. Good seeing it on the road. 2 Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 10, 2015 Report Posted March 10, 2015 Mike; I got points from 3 different source and they were all made a bit differently. The ones from Napa were the best of the bunch but I couldn't say how they compare to original equipment in material or construction. I wasn't confident that any of them would last that long based on the way the contact surfaces wore. That is why I went to a pointless system. Jeff Quote
TrampSteer Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Posted March 11, 2015 (edited) ...ones from Napa were the best of the bunch ... Hope so! Here's the odd thing about all this. I'm trying to calculate the last time I bought points. It has to be more than 30 years now - between company cars and electronic ignitions. And the reason why I would bother working that out is what I pulled out of the points box - well it surprised me. Never seen one all flappy like that. I remember them being one piece. Of course, never owned a '53 Dodge either. Nothing left but to put it in. Where's my hammer? Edited March 11, 2015 by TrampSteer Quote
Dave72dt Posted March 11, 2015 Report Posted March 11, 2015 Depends on the brand. Echlin comes to mind for that style but it's been awhile so don't take that as gospel. They work ok. You do have to pay attention when tightening that the copper strip doesn't twist and contact something it shouldn't and the spring itself is locked in under the point arm. Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted March 12, 2015 Report Posted March 12, 2015 Mike; I found it helpful to have the distributor out on the bench to work on stuff like this. If you have not had it out then it is probably a good time to give it a cleaning. You may be surprised at what is hiding under the base plate. A good clean and lubrication of the advance mechanism is probably in order. It get's forgotten.......until there is a problem. Once you have run these points a few hours you should inspect them closely for metal transfer, pitting etc. I don't think the contact material is always up to snuff on replacement parts. At least that what I nd 1 Quote
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