I found another interesting issue with the Allstate today! I kept having such a hard time getting the distributor cap to snap on... I thought it was a bit odd that the car has an Autolite starter and Autolite generator but a Delco-Remy distributor. Turns out it has an "Delcolite" distributor! It would be easy to call the person who did this all kinds of names etc. but as someone who's worked on these cars since the 1970s I would call the person "creative." Fact is, there was a time, when there was no internet or mass communication or even much of a national market place so restorers had to find ways to keep these cars on the road. What was done with this one is it has a Delco-Remy distributor but someone changed the snaps/fasteners to the Autolite type (which are much shorter) and therefore they could install an Autolite cap on it!
That's exactly what was done to this car which explains why I have never been able to get the timing right! Needless to say, I'm going to fix it and put it back correctly. I hope this improves the performance!
I remember those days when you had to do what you had to do and this project is a great example and stark reminder of how things were. It would be easy to complain and call names etc. regarding this modification but the fact is, if someone had not done it, this car likely would not have survived as long as it has.
