Heartbeat of the Ford V8
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.
Zoerleinhad trainedas anengineering 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 creationdidnot liveup toall of Henry’sdreams.The coil endedupbeing 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 Bob with his 1932 display engine that shows off all the original parts.
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.
Early 1932 Distributor 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.
134
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker