MTFCA Forum

Hi, when I had my 27 running, I noticed that there was a lot of flex in the commutator rod. The rod was a bad home made one, and I mostly blamed it on that. I made a better one, but still flexed. I bought a new reproduction, but took the car apart and haven't got it back together yet. But now it's time to install the timer clamp spring, and I wonder if there is a trick to getting just the right tension on the clamp, so the timer rotates easily enough that the rod doesn't flex, but not so easy that it moves by itself. BTW I have an old New-Day timer.

Any insight?

TIA

Considering that bolt also assists in retaining the generator, I snug mine up rather tight.

I also use a new day and the timer spring is fairly tight. I found that the correct bending of the timer rod is fairly critical in getting a smooth pull without binding. It seems that way to me anyway. Once you get that set then you can get the right tension on the timer by tightening the timer spring. I bent the spring just enough where it would fit flat against the back of the bolt and the block.
Then you adjust the spring tension as needed by pulling or pushing the spring after its flush against the block. That’s what I do. Others may do it a little differently.

RajoRacer wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:58 pm

Considering that bolt also assists in retaining the generator, I snug mine up rather tight.

Thanks, I understand that the bolt has to be tight. I was curious how much if any I should bend the clamp, to give the proper tension on the timer. Is there some kind of procedure for this, or is it another one of those trial and error things?

enough to hold it in place without rattling is all you need, really.

In theory, the notches on the quadrant should hold things in place while driving, and if not, there is a clever wooden "thingy" you can buy which clamps on that provides friction to both the accelerator and spark control rods.

Am enjoying hearing about progress.

There should be no need to manipulate that clamp spring unless someone already did. Most often they are in the proper orientation - even the repros.

Well, it was really hard to turn the timer housing before.

I did some bending, and now it takes a couple pounds pull to get it to move. I took away most of the clamping load it had.

There's been a lot of years for others to monkey stuff up on this car...I'm trying to get most of it back to how it should be. At least this part don't cost anything to fix.

Thanks for the help.

Believe you said you still the car apart in some way. You probably already know but it sometimes can be tricky in getting the timer rod to not rub or drag on the lower radiator hose when adjusting it for easy function. Been there and done that before in adjusting the rod not realizing it’s a close fit before putting things back together.