Dan Hiebert Posted July 24 Report Share Posted July 24 We've had the '37 Terraplane for almost 25 years now. Until this summer, I've never had a problem getting it to start. Fuel system is good, it's got good compression, and a strong starter. I'm pretty sure the problem is in the ignition (Autolite), I get an arc with the secondary from the coil to a ground, but no spark at the sparkplugs. Something in the distributor. But, in chasing that down, I realized that I don't know what the pictured part is, or if it may be contributing to the problem. I'm thinking it is some kind of vintage resistor, but I cannot find it in any of the parts manuals for Terraplane or Hudson (for any year), nor is it in any wiring diagram. It is made to be attached to the side of the distributor, that big hole in the base is attached to an insulated post on the side of the distributor that goes to the points, and the condenser lead is bolted to that. The primary wire from the coil is attached to one end of the spiral wire with the screw, the other end of that spiral wire is soldered to the base, so this thing is in the primary circuit from the coil to the distributor. It has .5 ohms resistance from the screw to the base. I have no idea if it is an OEM part or some aftermarket whiz-bang add-on, it was on the car when we got it. Could it be intended as a ballast resistor? I have a new condenser on order, and am pondering whether or not I should put this part back in the circuit, leaning towards "no". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Dave72dt Posted July 24 Solution Report Share Posted July 24 I would suggest it's a radio static suppression unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted July 24 Author Report Share Posted July 24 (edited) Makes sense. The distributor is mounted low and to the rear of the engine (PIA to work on), which puts it pretty close to the radio, as within inches, and the plug wires are all routed over the rear of the engine, again mere inches from the radio, and I don't think there was such a thing as static suppressing sparkplug wires back then(?). That never occurred to me, it had a Hudson radio, but it was not original to the car, and I took it out shortly after we got the car. Do you think it is an aftermarket item, or a factory one? There are no markings on it at all. I'll keep it, but I won't put it back on just yet. Edited July 24 by Dan Hiebert typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted July 27 Author Report Share Posted July 27 So - not really an ignition part, then. Albeit in the ignition circuit. FWIW, I cleaned it up, the plate with the curved edge that can be seen in the top picture is a standoff to keep the coiled part away from the distributor and is made of bakelite. The bar between the rivets that the wire is wrapped around looks like a heavy copper alloy and likely contributes to the resistance, the edges of it are grooved to accommodate the wire. Looks like when manufactured, whoever put the wire on had to adjust the number coils for whatever resistance was called for. I'm guessing vintage aftermarket, still can't find any markings, and I haven't found anything even remotely similar in any of my tomes or online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted July 27 Report Share Posted July 27 Not an electrical whiz but didn't the old tube type radios require high voltage AC to operate? Isn't that where the hmmmmm came from as all the tubes warmed up? Most were referred to as a vibrators whose osolations chopped up the DC to mimic AC. Could that be its purpose? Or it could be an impedence coil that generated power for the Buck Roger's cosmic beam weapon that fired from your hood ornament? Have you jumped the coil from the battery to see what you get? Assume you have verified the dist is rotating and rotor is in place. Could it be one of those J C Whitney's 50 mpg spark intensifiers that they hawked on the inside cover of thier catalogs the 50s? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldSmith Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 Yep, the vibrator interrupts the current xo the step-up transformer will work. Like the ignition coil, interrupt the primary circuit and the secondary will put out. (The vibrator makes that nostalgic hum.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hiebert Posted July 31 Author Report Share Posted July 31 (edited) I've got the distributor out and am rebuilding it right now, not that difficult, it's uber simple. Mainly just cleaning and painting as appropriate. Delayed slightly by putting a new roof on the garage but I should have it back in the car by the end of the week, and see what happens. I kinda like the idea of the ray gun, the car has a sexy red acrylic "zeppelin" hood ornament that looks amazingly similar to how artists portrayed ray guns back then...gotta be for more than just looks! Can't see them very well, but the ornament has slick little chrome fins on the sides and top. Edited July 31 by Dan Hiebert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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