Ferret Distributor

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Wayne Henderson

Greetings, I need help and a rotor button for this dizzy. Currently fitted to a friends Ferret so B60. I have done B40, B60 and B80 motors before but first time with this type of distributor. Only seen the type with 3 lugs attaching the cap to the base?

I know the plugs and leads are wrong but I'm fixing that.
Wayne

Hi Wayne,
That looks like a Delco-Remy distributor, they were fitted to early B Range engines and not often seen now.
Try Richard Banister in the UK, his email is wjrbanister@btconnect.com

regards, Richard

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Ok, PM me an address and I will put it in the post if it looks OK.
Rich.

[Ed Landstrom]

The Ferret Club (Oshawa Museum, Ontario Regiment) has published instructions for fitting a Chevy distributor to a Ferret engine. That was what I did when I discovered that a rotor was going to cost $200 and take a month to arrive from England. I had the necessary distributor in my scrap box and it only took a few hours. They're as common as dirt here. Maybe over there they're called Holden. It works fine, as long as you don't insist on originality. I should have the instructions somewhere, but you can probably find them faster on line than I can in my files.

[fv1620]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

That looks like a Delco-Remy distributor, they were fitted to early B Range engines and not often seen now.

I remember 40 years I knew someone who ran with one of these. One set of points were easily obtainable, but the mirror image set were unobtainable back then even.

[Len Savage]

Hello,

I am new here.

I also have a Ferret (Mk 2/4).

Ed Landstrom's post brought me here as I have been trying to work out swap on the distributor in my Ferret.

I contacted The Ferret Club (Oshawa Museum, Ontario Regiment) to see where I could find published instructions for fitting a Chevy distributor to a Ferret engine.

They can not find the document at all, but do recall one member doing it years ago...

I could really use the help from Ed or anyone with any info or photos on the swap.

Respectfully

Len Savage

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Len Savage

Hello,

I am new here.

I also have a Ferret (Mk 2/4).

Ed Landstrom's post brought me here as I have been trying to work out swap on the distributor in my Ferret.

I contacted The Ferret Club (Oshawa Museum, Ontario Regiment) to see where I could find published instructions for fitting a Chevy distributor to a Ferret engine.

They can not find the document at all, but do recall one member doing it years ago...

I could really use the help from Ed or anyone with any info or photos on the swap.

Respectfully

Len Savage

Hi Len,
The correct B60 distributors are still found new in the UK, why mess with an incorrect one, the auto advance may not be correct for the engine. Try Richard Banister in the UK.

[Len Savage]

Richard,

I could not get Bannister nor any of the UK sources to ship even a cap and rotor to the US.

Seems that the cap and rotor are either not worth the paperwork or some restriction encountered. I was told huge red tape involved. It's a US thing from what I read in an email from them.

Same thing on Ebay. (Caps and rotors have come up for bid in the UK, won't ship to the US).

My distributor is functional, though no spare points, and my cap and rotor are in need of replacement.

This is why I started looking for an easy to locate distributor swap. I know that when I installed modern wires and spark plugs it was huge improvement in spark and was less likely to foul.

"For want of a nail".

I really enjoy driving the Ferret and I want to keep it on the road. I did modernize the exhaust and put a real flex joint in and it was another huge improvement and I don't have to breath exhaust any longer.

I really do appreciate your response, thank you for trying to help me out.

Len

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Len,
Have you heard of a business in Texas called REME Depot www.remedepot.com ? They have a lot of dealings with Ferrets and may be able to help.

[Ed Landstrom]

It will be a week or so before I'm home and have a chance to look for the instructions. If I can find them, I'll forward them then.