I just returned the book The All American Hot Rod to the library today. I couldn't stop from staring at this pic inside also the cover shot. Just love it! But what's up with the distributor? I thought it was some sort of mag for a moment. It reminds me of a modern dirt bike stator. Where are the wires? I bet someone here could enlighten me in their sleep on this 1950 tec. Can't help but notice the tires that are the least important part of the car just like they were to me as a teen.
It is a pointer that indicates cam position for rapid and easy lash adjustment. There were a number of these made...the one shown is sheet metal, others were cast aluminum. Sort of an annotated degree wheel. Car is Racer Brown's, according to recent research! Versions of this pic have been used on two period magazine covers and one book, at least... Flathead distributors have positive key drive from cam, and their design allows them to be removed and replaced without even affecting timing...so this tool was very easy to use. Make your own: Get the main body from a '42-48 distributor. Paint a tuna can white, screw it to rotor. Make a pointer and carefully locate adjustment point for each valve, mark said positions on your tuna can. Found a pic of the one in the illustration online: I've got one, the only one I have actually found. Cast aluminum versions seem more common. Position marks are around the edge of the drum, not visible in photo. AND...I forgot! There's a new one from a HAMBer available in THIS century! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/valve-clearance-indexer-for-ford-flathead.1004332/
I wonder why they is no spring pads and nuts on the front spring u bolts? Also is there two voltage regulators on the firewall???
Car is in a rebuild...down there, the chrome is probably the change-up and car is just sitting on its new hardware. Passenger side regulator is not, it is most likely a relay feeding the headlights. Car will probably soon grow a third box, driving a tachometer! Last night I tripped over a third type of cam indicator in the laundry room. It is functionally the same as the Lee, but has a thicker drum and the cast base is a spidery design with legs going out to the bolt holes.
More! Go to advance google patent https://www.google.com/advanced_patent_search seek out patent US2443135 A , click on view PDF to see the whole thing. This is same general idea, but specifics differ from all of the above.
More than just that, where'd they find those 2 good looking ladies that also appear to be rather interested in the hot rod work. I want one of them!
They left. That pic was on the cover of one magazine as shown. A couple years later, it was re-imaged with the young ladies GONE and the men STILL trying to get the heap together. Obviously, they had decided to date someone with a car that RAN and had a damn ROOF. One of the Mags was Speed Mechanics, the other a more obscure small mag from same publisher. I have both of them. There is an essay on all of this in Albert Drake's great book "Fifties Flashback." BUY IT! And ignore the books wretched cover, a 1980's style Ye Olde Noastalgia picture. Drake discovered the identity of the roadster by close observation...he saw the kink in one of the headlight brackets and matched it up to the Brown roadster! It's a car that still exists.
It was shaking all over the place, but dropping in a second crankshaft balanced it well enough to finish.
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