Is anyone familiar a timer which has an aluminum case? This one has no marks at all that I can find, though the inside appear to be quite similar to timers made by the American Mechanical Works of Los Angeles.

Thanks!

Ford timers from the '12 thru '15 model years used aluminum-cased timers. They were not marked Ford.

Cast aluminum timers were standard from late '11 through early '15. Post a photo and we'll tell you if it looks stock or aftermarket.

Mike,
You type much faster than you talk!

I was definitely dreaming about another timer when I said that this one resembled those by American Mechanical Works of Los Angeles - NOT!


the oil hole is threaded



If this is indeed, a 12-15 timer, is there someone who could restore it?

Thanks!

Sent that timer off to Frank Fenton, and have him 'andersonize' it.

He did the one on this early car for me....worked so sweet. Looks early but is new inside with flapper fixings

I'm running the same timer on my '14. Frank does wonderful work. I love having the correct timer case, with the reliable Anderson components inside.

Dan, did you buy the new brass fan pulley? Its very nice. How did you set the rivets? I have a set of 1909-10 blades and want to install them on a good pulley, but am concerned about the riveting procedure.

Richard

Spent the $ and bought that brass fan complete, its the new version with sealed ball bearing, fan already riveted.

Lang's part# 3962BBE.

We make the new brass fan hubs. You rivet on the blades.

If you chuck the timer in the lathe you can clean the the inside smooth and use an original roller. Works wonderful, and was supplied on millions of Model T's. In my opinion superior to the Anderson.

I agree. Couple Royce's suggestion with replacing a worn out rotor ball with ball bearings and you have a nice set up.

Here two pictures , how I clean the inside
I also use ball bearings



Toon

I tried ball bearings in place of the timer roller once. Had to use two side by side to get the width.It failed for me. The outside of the ball bearing is captive in normal use. When I used it as a roller, it quickly wore the hardening off the outside of the bearing because it was not meant to be a wiping surface. Did I miss something?

Allan from down under.

Allan, a friend of mine tried one set up that way a few years ago and had the same experience. Didn't last but a short time. His seemed to fail because of arcing on the outer rings. Dave

Ours was copied straight from one of the accessory books. We used a very large race only about 1/4" wide and about the 1/8" smaller than the commutator diamter so it rolled around inside a standard Ford commutator. We modified the carrier so it was lined up with the timer segments. The outside edge becomes matt grey where it arcs. I measured the OD with a micrometer and found it was only surface colouring and has lost about .0005". We had 2 cars running on them for 10 years plus. Oh, the best thing was lubriucation was a drop or two of sewing machine oil for the bearing race when you remember. Drove from Adelaide to Parkes and back about 1,500 odd miles with no issues.

Commutators are like bands, each to their own. Dave C.