800-221-FORD (3673)
FLATHEAD
Henry Ford envisioned a trouble-free 50,000 mile ignition system for his
new V8. The ignition would have a modular distributor with
the coil integrated into the unit. It was to be mounted to
the front of the engine and run directly off the front of
the camshaft, thus eliminating the play found in gear
driven units.When Ford was told by the head of his electrical
laboratory this ignition couldn’t be made,
he didn’t give up on the idea. It just wasn’t
in his nature to do so. Instead, he turned to
another engineer, Emil Zoerlein, to tackle
the project.Zoerlein had trained as an engineering
apprentice in Germany and was
often Henry’s go-to guy for many
challenging projects. Like the rest
of the V8 project, the distributor’s
design was carried out in secret without the type of resources an engineering project of this
importance would normally have.Unfortunately, Zoerlein’s creation did not live up to all of Henry’s dreams. The coil ended up being
a separate bolt-on unit which underwent many changes, and the 50,000 mile trouble-free unit
was, well, just a dream. Many years later, when asked about being given the project, Zoerlein
commented, “It was difficult but I couldn’t say it couldn’t be done until I
tried it.” However, Henry did get his V8 launched, providing America’s
working class a stylish, affordable and more powerful automobile. The
engine soon became a legend and the various distributor changes
throughout the years kept the V8s firing away.Bob with his 1932 display engine that shows off all the original parts.Very
Early 1932 Distributor
Heartbeat of the Ford V8
The very earliest 1932 distributors are very rare. Even with all Bob’s early
Ford experience and hundreds of swap meets under his belt, he has
only seen two of these. The early ’32 is recognized by its tall coil with 4
mounting screws and its 4 bolt housing with a flip-top oiler.