Projects Seagrave 531 V12 Special BuiLd Up in Brazil

Love the coils in the firewall and their spacing, genius level!

 

If you think it's smooth now, wait until you get the second ignition hooked up (if you haven't already).

 

It’s supposed to run with both ignition system hooked on or the second distributor is only reserve for emergencies?
Another question: do you know the specification of points, condensers and rotors? Maybe parts of another model os vehicle could fit the 530 V12 Seagrave.
Thanks in advance.
Gui.


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If you start making Seagrave points, rotors and condensers...
... let us know.

Sorry, couldn't resist.
You've made nearly everything else.

Actually... I bet you guys could.

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Ok! Lol!



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I ran my engine on both ignitions all of the time and it ran noticeably better on both. People have spent a lot of time and money making twin plug heads for flathead Fords and there has to be a reason for that. The only harm would be wear to components (mainly points), and with the miles things like this get, that's not really a problem. It might be, but I replaced the points on mine and used sets out of a 6 cylinder Chevrolet, I believe it was '46-'48. The distributors (at least in my truck) were made by Delco and it only makes sense that they would have used something in their existing bin of parts. For condensers, anything that will physically fit will be fine. Believe me, I have done a lot of work with condensers and the actual capacitance of the unit can vary quite a bit with having any significant effect on performance or longevity of the points. Most currently available automotive condensers are in the mid .20 micro-farad range, which is right for modern "can" coils. Take your existing points and condenser to a local parts store (I assume they have them there) and start comparing. I believe the condensers I used were from the same vintage Chevrolet, but I'm not sure.

As to caps and rotors, because they are dual coil units, you are on your own. It was not a problem for me, as my truck had low miles and both caps and rotors were in excellent shape. One hint I would give you is to look at other comparable vehicles that may have used 12 cylinder dual coil ignitions (Lycoming, Lincoln, Cadillac, maybe some aircraft engine manufacturers?). As I said above, the manufacturers like to use existing parts rather than tooling up something new for each application, and Delco made distributors for a lot of non-GM applications. As a last resort, there is a guy up here who reproduces caps and rotors for H&C dual coil distributors for flathead Fords, so it is possible to do.

 

One last note on condensers. If you can't find any to fit inside the distributor, you could always run an externally mounted condenser. All the Mallory and other racing dual point units did, as the second set of points took up the space inside the distributor usually occupied by the stock condenser. They are quite easy to mount and hook up. The only problem with this is that a stock type condenser looks kinda crappy hanging off the side of a dual coil, dual point distributor. The original Mallory's used a proprietary big brass condenser that looked liked it was meant to be there. Unfortunately, they are hard to find these days and unsplit ones are very expensive. In a bit of shameless self-promotion, I will mention that I am now producing replacements for these. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

Mr Tubman.
Thanks a lot for all you precious tips!
The possibility to use Chevrolet points and condensers is a great notice!
Thanks again!
Gui.


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Drmalacarne & all, I will share what I gathered when preparing our distributors. Distributors were Delco #1111540 and an old Delco parts breakdown listed points as 1970436, condenser 1908846, cap 1841818, and rotor 1912686. As Tubman said the points were listed as fitting Chevrolet 47 and 48 and maybe a year or two after. I reused all my existing parts so I can't testify to the accuracy of these #s. I can find distributor advance specs and tuning specs if needed. My distributors had two different sized condensers installed and I agree with Tubman that any of the common point type condensers will be ok. Seagraves instructions were to commonly run one dist or the other and alternate occasionally, They said under some low speed conditions smoothness might be affected when running both. Do you have the Seagrave operating instructions for this engine? I can provide paper copies or possibly scans of mine if needed. Our carburetors are single barrel zenith-unlike yours. Since we have this engine trailer mounted with no way to load it, tuning was sensitive. I used a Unisyn airflow meter (like we used on the MG andJags) to get equal airflow at idle---had a way to switch off each distributor and found it useful to switch off each set of points as desired. I set both dist and each set of points for proper firing location , having previously located and marked the desired firing point on the front pulley. I could then run on 1 distributor and shut down 1 cylinder bank to better hear the carb low speed adjustment. Running on 1 bank it sounds just like a inline six and idles lower with smoothness. Oh, I didn,t mention we considered it a sin to not run short stacks and no mufflers. A very distinct sound but not really loud. The thermostats were ruined and thought necessary. They were small in diameter, fitted in the spacer between the head and rad hose. Found a hard copy catalog (Stant I think) at the parts house with pictures and dimensions and picked some based on specs and dimensions. Had to cut down the flange OD but they worked well and the water return flow was calmed.

 

Now we are making the dashboard supports and steering column drop.



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Time to add that beautiful steering wheel.
Yeah...

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Time to try put the sides hood on.


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Had a thought.
Oops, it's gone.
Oh, its back.

It suddenly struck me that this great vintage style car that you guys are building will probably exist and be enjoyed for a long long time into the future. Some hot rods and custom cars eventually get lost or changed or even used for other projects. Somehow, I think that wouldn't tend to be the case with this car or similar builds. Maybe more like an old Packard or Duesenberg would be cared for and kept, you know.

But a lot more fun LOL.

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I think you’re absolutely right Ricky!
My plan is to get old with my Seagrave.
Cars only get better with use and time!
Gui


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And handed down through your family for a hundred years and more.

But not until you've had your lifelong enjoyment with it.

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Kinda like guitars!

 

It will run noticeably better running both ignitions. One of the pre-flight checks for piston engine aircraft is to do an engine running mag check. On the Cessna 172 we run the engine up to 1800 RPM and then switch the mags off one at a time and look for a specific RPM drop. Both mags on is a cleaner fuel burn, and less fuel per hour burned. One nice thing about the piston engine airplane is that you can adjust the mixture from the cockpit, to be able to tune "one the fly" (N.P.I.).

 

Similar to the GAV on a Model A Ford.....

 

We are using the original 1926 Buick steering drop support.
Às Dashboard we cut a 6mm stainless steel sheet.
Gui


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The dash and the column drop look like they were made for each other. Come to think of it, they probably were!.

 

That's a hefty dash panel.
Stainless. 1/4"?
No bracing needed.
It IS the brace. LOL

Yup...
This thing's gonna last forever.

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very neat

 

Just out of idle curiosity, how much does that dash panel weigh?

 

Some 12 pounds.
Now we will install the gauges and switches.
Gui.


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Now we’re molding the hood.
We decided to put some louvers over it and in the side too.



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I have extreme car envy!

 

Coming along nicely, definitely has the look. Was the thickness of the dash to add structural support to the body also?

 

Finally, some good overall pictures. Starting to look like a car. Looks great.

Did you mention what color you might paint it?

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I knew it was gonna look G O O D all put together..............speachless !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi!
The dash was made of 6mm stainless steel.
Gui


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