flat cap to fit accel dual point?

[falcongeorge]

Does anyone know where I can get a flat cap that will fit an FE accel ball-bearing tach drive dual point?

[falcongeorge]

I was thinking one of these might work? Anyone know?
https://msdperformance.com/products/distributors/distributor_accessories/parts/8541

[BattlestarGalactic]

Not sure about Accel, but I know Mallory has different register diameters on the distributor housing so you can't change cap style.  Crab caps only fit crab cap distributors.  They changed the diameter about 1/16" so they don't fit std distributor housings.  I've wanted to just machine the housing to convert one, but just haven't got around to it.  My blown 390 needs a crab cap style put on it.

I used to have issues with mallory crab caps back in the 80's.  They would crack about every 4-5 months.  Really poor quality.  Not sure today.

[falcongeorge]

Not sure about Accel, but I know Mallory has different register diameters on the distributor housing so you can't change cap style.  Crab caps only fit crab cap distributors.  They changed the diameter about 1/16" so they don't fit std distributor housings.  I've wanted to just machine the housing to convert one, but just haven't got around to it.  My blown 390 needs a crab cap style put on it.

I used to have issues with mallory crab caps back in the 80's.  They would crack about every 4-5 months.  Really poor quality.  Not sure today.

Thanks Battlestar. The MSD one in the link looks like it had provision for the spring clips, maybe I will email them and try to get the id. As a rule, the "new, improved" MSD "tech" staff is next to useless.

[cammerfe]

Some years ago, Brother Lon and I decided to use a crab cap on a Mallory diz with a smaller diameter. At that time, Mallory supplied a ring that fit to make up the difference. A subsequent request was met with a 'Wha'? But I imagine that such a thing could be made easily enough if you had access to a lathe and a piece of aluminum tubing close to the right diameter.

KS

[BattlestarGalactic]

The crab cap is smaller, so if you have a std distributor you just turn the body down to fit.  If you try to put a std cap on a crab distributor, then you need a spacer to take up the slack.

MSD touts their new cap is better?  I hope.  Like mentioned, the old Mallory red caps were brittle and were junk.  I used to run a crab cap on my pickup back in the 80's and I finally got tired of replacing the caps on a constant basis after it would start to misfire.  The std caps run for years without fail.

My question is:  why is the body of the distributor taller on a crab cap unit?  It makes it as tall as a std cap overall.  There is no gain in clearance.  I want to shorten the height so I was going to use a std body with a crab cap. 

[cammerfe]

Some Mallory magnetos used crab caps and I believe they had larger diameter bodies. Crab caps used to be made of light brown 'bakelite'. Very tough and lasted forever. Maybe you could find one of those as NOS.

I'll always be a Mallory fan because when I was a kid working on a flathead, they were very kind to someone who knew hardly anything. There was a parts-storage/workshop on the side of the factory building in Detroit. Walk across the field next door after parking on the street and they were very free with advice and even small parts. Do you remember the spring-wound conductor that rode in the porcelain insulator around the top of the coil? I got such a coil but it worked intermittently because it was not making good contact on one end. When they gave it back to me it all looked like brand new. (And maybe it was!) Wouldn't take a dime.

KS

[BattlestarGalactic]

I'm a Mallory guy myself.  Just always liked them.  Just the 80's crab caps that gave me fits.  Everything else I have no issue with.

[falcongeorge]

Follow up on this, picked up a 6-71 last weekend and started mocking it up, it really doesn't matter what cap I use, the Accel tach drive distributor is NOT going to fit in the stock location, no way in hell. I plan to drive the pump off the end of the cam anyway, I think I can fab an angle drive off the same shaft as the pump, I will cut the front end off a stock cam, turn the lobes off it and make a stub like M/T did on his hemis. Theres always a harder way to do it

[BattlestarGalactic]

Yup, nothing other then a stock distributor will fit under a 6/71, as long as you use the BT spacer.  No spacer?? Really nothing fits then.

[falcongeorge]

And you have to mount the blower farther back than is really ideal, you end up with a really long run on the pull side of the belt, the blower is really sticking up in your line of sight now, at some point you just gotta ask yourself just how many small compromises you can live with to make what is ultimately a half-assed solution work. Add it all up, and in the end you can see why Mickey did what he did.

[BattlestarGalactic]

Mine, the scoop is near the roof of my '64 Galaxie.  The 2" spacers under the 660 Holleys make it even worse, but needed it to clear the linkage since I have them side saddle.

I don't make random right turns, as you can't see that side of the road coming up.  Twisty roads are really bad and I have to move around in the seat to see where I'm going.

[falcongeorge]

Mine, the scoop is near the roof of my '64 Galaxie.  The 2" spacers under the 660 Holleys make it even worse, but needed it to clear the linkage since I have them side saddle.

I don't make random right turns, as you can't see that side of the road coming up.  Twisty roads are really bad and I have to move around in the seat to see where I'm going.

I am trying to avoid all that. I have an Enderle 80A pump that I think is ok, some old 1/2 pitch mag pulleys and a Glendale timing cover, planning to make a drive that will run the pump out front, and mount my distributor at 90 deg. to the drive behind the belt, and run a Enderle bug on it, it should be fairly low. I have a 5" drive mandrel with a .5 od, will cut the distributor gear out of an old cam and drill/ream a .500 hole in it, get a machine shop to broach a key groove in the shaft and on the id of the gear, then use a set screw to keep the gear from moving fore and aft. Then I can tig two pieces of 2" aluminum tubing together at 90 degrees, make a collar to mount the distributor, and a collar to mount the pump on the far end of the tube, weld them on, stick a bearing in the outer end to support the shaft, and bobs yer uncle. I can oil the distributor gear with a hard line and restrictor off the top of the filter adapter, and put a drain back to the pan on the underside. I will take a stock distributor and cut the top off and put it in the original distributor hole to drive the oil pump.

[falcongeorge]

Yup, nothing other then a stock distributor will fit under a 6/71, as long as you use the BT spacer.  No spacer?? Really nothing fits then.

Battlestar, What snout length are you using with the BT intake? Are you using a hub or a balancer?
EDIT: Found a post on another FE forum that says you are using a hub, that's what I plan to do as well.