Re: Alcan springs, rocker panels, waterproofing, other

[Terry Rust <trust@domain.elided>]

>Thanks Terry:
>
>I remember that too!
>
This is getting scary, usually nobody remembers what I do.

>The idea was that the inner tube would seal the joint between dist cap and
>distributor itself as well as cover and vent holes on the body of the dist
>cap.
>
Yep, I think that was the jist of it.

>Like I say, I have never figured out what is exactly getting wet such, that
>it kills the spark.  On the other hand, I've always suspected inside the
>cap, because that is the common problem.   Water isn't generally going to
>hurt the primary side - 12 v - but it doesn't take much moisture, even just
>in the air inside the cap, to let a secondary- spark @ 20,000 volts - go
>astray and find ground long before it jumps the plug gap inside the
>cylinder.
>
Very true, while stationed in Virginia I had problems with my Jeep (delco
points) whenever I was aggressive in the wet, though not as many as my wife
in her 59 MG.

>The interesting part I remember in reading that article many years ago, was
>the statement they made that Scouts were "very sensitive to moisture".
>They did not say why they felt this way or in comparison to what.  But the
>inference was that puddle hopping caused problems in a Scout but not in a
>Jeep.  I had guessed it was as simple as the distributor being up "front
>and center" on the IH motor and more prone to spray and such coming through
>the radiator or up from the front end.
>
>Comments anyone?
>
>Tom H.

The Jeeps, at least with AMC V8s have the dist in the same spot, to make
matters worse, the older ones have the Delco points type with the window in
the cap, the window serves two purposes, to 1) attrack water, and 2) to
admit water to the dist cap, oh yeah a third purpose is to allow adjustment
of the points, but #s1 and 2 are the real strengths of the system. Why a
Scout would be more prone to trouble than that I don't know unless it has
to do with inherent design stuff with the scout distributor. I seem to
recall the one in the 800 as smaller than the delco, could that be a
factor? I wonder if the coil quality matters, does a Jacobs on a stock dist
fail just as easily, or does it blow up the cap completely?

terry