Bubba To The Rescue

Last Friday, I found myself putting up highway 12 on my way back from lunch in my ’39 sedan. The weather was nice, the road was empty, and everything was glorious in the world. And then it wasn’t. The motor just quit. No sputters, no coughs, etc… It just quit. The instant quality of it all made me think it was an ignition issue – either coil or distributor. Remembering that I had a coil at my office, I set off on foot and headed up the road.

Once back at the ’39, I slapped in the new coil and gave it a crank. Again, nothing. I knew then it was my Mallory Unilite.

It’s ironic too… My flathead powered ’39 is largely motivated by 70 year old technology. Even so, the two weakest links have proven to be the modern tweaks found here and there like the electric fuel pump and yes, the Mallory Unilite. It very well could be that I’m too small to understand the wonders of modern conveniences. OR, it could be that the Ford engineers all those years ago got it right and the mechanical formulas of 1939 just don’t mesh with those of 2011. It’s a generational gap that left me dragging the brakes as a buddy pulled me down the road with a tow strap.

The offending turd ready to be flushed...

Had I of been running a vintage distributor, it’s more than likely that a set of old fashioned points would have literally pointed me away from that tow strap. However, I was running an electronic distributor built for an application not considered by typical part stores. Nothing in their stock could get me back on the road. The only solution for me was mail order.

So there I was… Fortunately, my model-a coupe is more than capable of daily duties. Sure, it’s a little loud and I can’t responsibly take my kids to school in it, but the little hot rod is as reliable as just about anything on the road. I drove home like a mad man hell bent on letting everyone around me know that I, by god, was a hot rodder! And that’s when it hit me…

Jim Linder did the crab distributor in my a-coupe. Since, I haven’t had a single problem with bad points or weird ignition timing or anything… It’s just hauled ass and taken everything I can throw at it. As soon as I got home, I shot of a note to Jim and let him know what I wanted:

1. Screw traditional looks (I’ve got a hood and an alternator), I want the most reliable distributor you can build.

2. Whatever you build, I want to be able to pick up replacement parts at my small town parts house.

Jim got to work and built a model of simplicity. It’s a GM style distributor with a set of points and a condenser set up and curved to run on my old Flathead. It’s big and bulky and almost ugly, but Jim has shipped hundreds of them and they just flat out work. In the package, he included an American made coil and all the directions I would ever need.

Powered by Bubba...

I got to work yesterday and quickly wired the coil, stabbed the distributor, and set the timing. The car fired instantly and went down the road as it should. All was well yet again.

Now, I’m not Brian Bosworth asking you to use Right Guard because it’s the civilized thing to do and because I’m getting paid to do it. I’m Ryan Cochran. Driver of flatheads. Complete Garage Hack. Renowned idiot. And I’m telling you that I use nothing but ignitions built by Bubba’s Hot Rod Shop because even I can get down the road reliably with them. I can’t think of a better testimonial than that.

And guess what? Starting next week, our hero will be a genuine Alliance vendor. How about that?