Classic American – September 2019

There’snothing more

irritating than the starting

problems caused by

points or distributor

issues –and with older

American engines like

Ford’svenerable flathead

there were relatively few

solutions until recently.

Keith Harman oversees

theinstallation of a

Stromberg E-Fire flathead

electronic distributor on

Wo his flathead Ford truck...

rds

an

dp

hotography:

Keith Harman

T

he benefits of running an electronic

ignition system on your ride should be well

known to readers of this magazine, and

there have long been many versions available

for just about any engine you care to mention.

There will always be those guys who stick with

the old points and condenser set-ups of course,

and that’sfine,asl ong as you can access your

distributor easily onacold dark rainy night when

you do encounteraproblem. Unfortunately,the

earlier pre-’48 era flatheads, with their front-

mounted distributors tucked down behind the

radiator,can beapain to access, especially if

fitted in the close

confines ofahot

rod; even worse

if an electric fan

is down in there

as well.

Stromberg,

well known for

their cool re-

manufactured

carbs,recentlycame to the rescue with this

excellent new product: the Stromberg E-Fire

electronic distributor.Available for both the

earlier three-bolt fitting 11A motor built from

1932-1940, and the 21A two-bolt fitting from

’41-’48, these are easily installed components

which will enhance and improve the

performance of any earlier flathead motor.

Our own ’39 truck runsahealthy 24-stud

59A flathead with Edelbrock heads and intake,

three Strombergs, headers, and an Isky cam,

and runs well. Really,the only thing it needed

was areliable spark, so we took it along to our

local flathead specialist and Stromberg dealer,

Royal Kustoms, nearWareham in Dorset, for the

upgrade. The truck is now 12-volt, soa12v two-

bolt E-fire was ordered, and with Royal Kustoms’

technician, Andy,spinning the wrenches, we

followed the relatively straightforward install.

The E-Fire comes complete withadetailed

owner’sinstall ationmanual, gasket and even

crimp terminals. So, having disconnected the

battery, thelow tension wire was removed from

1. Here’sour ’39
   Truck at Royal
   Kustomsready for
   the E-Firedistributor
   swap.


2. The E-Firecomes
   complete with
   instruction manual,
   paper gasket,
   and even two ring
   terminals.


3. It’ sa
   straightforwardjob to
   remove the two bolts
   holding the stock
   distributor to the
   front cover.


4. The truck was
   alreadyfitted with
   these steel-cored
   plug wires, so they
   were re movedalong
   withthe stock cap,
   and replaced with
   new carbon core
   wires.

BRIGHT

SPARKS

the coil, and the distributor cap removed from

the stock distributor.Before removing the plug

wires, mark each one so it can be refitted to

the E-Fire’scap in the correct location.

(Stromberg have handily providedaguide in

the owner’smanua linc aseyou trip up on this,

as it’ seasily done.)

It’salsoimportant to note at this stage that if

you run solid core or copper plug leads they will

need to be replaced as they are not suppressed

78 classic-american.com