WTB Early Distributor Housing.....with explanation

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to get an early distributor housing for my M, but I've tried to describe what I'm looking for to a few well known vendors and they didn't understand what I was asking for. So instead of putting this post in the Swap Meet area I'm putting it here for maybe a bit of discussion. From my understanding of what people have explained to me on this forum my '52 came from Dodge with an ignition filter (some call it a capacitor, some a radio filter) that was mounted on the firewall and had a thick cable that ran from it to the distributor. At some point in time a change was made on the assembly line in regards to that filter and it's accompanying distributor, and the change was implemented to all previous M's in military service. That change was to remove the filter from the firewall and install an new distributor that had a filter incorporated into its lower body, thus replacing the thick cable that ran to the external filter with a thin one.

To fit the filter into the distributor housing they had to modify the housing by adding a protrusion (or a "boss") on the side where the filter would sit. That's why ORD 9 lists 2 distributor assemblies, the early version for the firewall mounted filter and the later version with the internal filter. The pics below show the differences in the two distributor housings, the first pic of the early housing with no protrusion and second pic showing the rectangular protrusion that was added to incorporate the filter.

I know.....you guys have good eyes and you immediately noticed that the pics are of M38 distributors, not M37 distributors. You got me. That's because I cannot find a picture of the early M37 distributor I'm looking for. I know they are out there, but I haven't seen one on any anybody's M at swap meets or being sold by vendors or in the manuals I have (because they were all revised after the change took place). But it should look just like the first pic of the M38 distributor that shows no protrusion where the power wire feeds into the body, because the M38 went thru the same upgrade with the filter being moved into the distributor housing as the M37 did. If pics of the older firewall mounted filter and the newer internal filter help I can post them....just shout.

The ORD 9 part number for the early M37 distributor I'm looking for is 7374884, which will be stamped on the data plate, and the number for the later distributor, which everyone probably has, is 7355734. Here's the way ORD 9 lists them....you'll notice the words "and FILTER" in the later description;

7374884 DISTRIBUTOR, ignition, waterproof, 24V, w/coil, assy (used thru engine serial No. 20934)

7355734 DISTRIBUTOR, ignition, waterproof, 24V, w/coil AND FILTER, assy (used thru engine serial No. 20935 and up)

The one thing I HAVE seen is trucks with the newer internal filter distributor installed that still used the firewall mounted filter and thick cable as well. The old M in the woods by my friend's house is set up that way. I guess having two filters doesn't affect anything, as long as the distributor is still getting its 24 volts, but I have no idea why it was done that way.

So if anyone has an early distributor housing they wouldn't mind selling please let me know. Or if I've misunderstood any of this just jump right in and tear me up. I'm hoping these two pics load......with Webshots gone I had to use Photobucket....and I'm having a hard time working with it. So here goes.............

thanks,
bob




EarlyM38Dist by w30bob



LateM38Dist by w30bob

[JBizal]

I have the early housings NOS.
www.midwestmilitary.net
John

[w30bob]

Thanks John.....I'm making a list of odds and ends I need from you and will call you soon.

regards,
bob

[mylo219]

T he thick cable from the RF filter to the dist...is that necessary ? some one twister the end on mine to where wires were sticking out. I want to run a hot line from the battery straight to the distributor, is there a problem with that ?

[w30bob]

Hi mylo,

The problem with running a wire from the battery directly to the distributor is that the distributor is "hot" all the time. That means if you shut the engine off when the contact points in the distributor are closed you'll burn them up. And there's no way to know if the points are open or closed when you park the truck. You also have to remember that if you need to turn the motor, say with a hand crank, or you just want to bump the starter to get to TDC....it'll start because the distributor has power. In general it's not a safe thing to do.......and with the burnt points issue....just not wise.

An easier solution would be to run a wire from the input side of the filter box on the firewall, bypassing the filter, to the distributor. That eliminates the big thick wire you're talking about. Just my 2 cents....which is worth just that....2 cents.



regards,
bob

[Tuko]

I run no filter. The one on my firewall was bypassed, and from reading other posts on here it seems the one in the distributor can lead to problems so I gutted that one too. I dont run any radios, etc. so it dosent matter to me if theres some extra static floating around my truck.