Just an FYI,

I tried to order a distributor housing from Tom Hannaford at Then and Now but he didn't have any more housings and didn't have any plans to have anymore made.  At least not in the near future.  I purchased the German CNC machined one from eBay and will be receiving it soon.  Heavy cost factor, but it appears that this might be the only game in town for a new part.  $399 USD.  I'll let you know how this all works out mine was on it's last leg and I figured the engine rebuild deserved a new distributor housing.  I did manage to pick up an original part in fragile condition.  Not usable in a car but great for determining measurements for checking or reverse engineering.

Will let you guys know how this works out but will still have to get my motor back from the shop.  As of last contact.., nothing has be done to it yet.  I have a commitment for these next coming weeks.

I've seen the base on ebay.  I'm sure it will do the trick and you'll have one less pot metal part to worry about.   frank

I've seen it too...let us know how it works.  I bought one from Tom a couple years ago and it's been great.  Not sure why he won't make any more "on demand" if someone is willing to pay for it.

Ted

Ted, 

I think the issue is return on investment.  It's to expensive to only manufacture a few so he would be looking at a production run greater than 50 pieces in order to be cost effective.  Then you need to sell them and I would suspect demand is not that great considering the total amount of pre 1932 Chrysler engines out there and the number of cars fixed with his first effort.   My engine had a square aluminum block drilled for the gear assembly and distributor.  Based on the wear of the part it has probably serviced the car for many years.  It actually worked fine.  I intend to re-drill the housing and install Oilite® Bushing to repair the worn aluminum shaft hole.  It will be a spare part for an unforeseen emergency.  The new CNC part plus the original I was able to pick up, will be used to verify the exact dimensioning of the gear shaft and mounting holes.  Hopefully 

Chet...

UPDATE:

I received the new distributor housing from the eBay seller in Germany.  The part looks great and mic's up correct.  My motor is still up in Massachusetts but I don't think there will be any issues installing this item.  Of course some slight fitting might be required but we will see.  Otherwise, it seems a lot better than my homemade distributor housing which has run my car for 10++ years.  Cost $399 + $50 for International FedEx Shipping.





My old homemade base.  Which still works just fine.

Well Chet, your homemade base may not score high in form, but in function it gets a 10!  Nice work, as usual!    frank

Quote from: frankp on November 09, 2018, 09:50:57 PM
Well Chet, your homemade base may not score high in form, but in function it gets a 10!  Nice work, as usual!    frank

Thanks Frank but I can't take credit for the homemade distributor block.  It was on the car when I bought it.  I figured I would spend a couple of additional bucks since I have invested so much in the engine rebuild.  The new housing will look much better than the block.  I hope it will remove the occasional engine cough at idle.  The block's aluminum drive shaft hole was badly worn., so trouble in the future was just around the bend.  I intend to drill a larger hole and press in a 1/2" bushing.  I'll keep it as an emergency spare.

Started back on the body work.  I am finishing up the passenger side doors and upper steel door frame.  It's good to get going again.

Cheers,  Chet...