Using micro drills on distributors etc....

[Nitrobarry]

Never tried to drill holes in a distributor or anything else using micro bits. I`d like to know your techniques. I do have a pin vise if that helps. Also, sorry if this has been covered elsewhere already. I haven`t checked.

[SfanGoch]

This method by Ray Ferguson (BigTallDad) is an excellent way to do it:

 

[Nitrobarry]

Thanks for this. The Photo bucket images are fuzzy but I get the gist of the method.

[Straightliner59]

I have posted this tutorial in several places, online, including this forum. I can't understand why so many guys are so set on drilling tiny holes in their distributor caps. This method is inexpensive, uses readily available materials, and works GREAT! I've been using it since the mid-'80s, or so, since Don Fahrni developed the technique.

[afx]

Norm also offers a 4-cylinder version.

Edited November 7, 2019 by afx

[Tom Geiger]

I have Norm's distributors and the early ones weren't marked for which wires to use.  I figured out it was the Detail Master wire, which is a very thin wire and thinner than most other brands.  

[afx]

I use wrapping wire I got from Radio Shack when they were in business.  It is a tight fit on Norm's distributors but it does work.

[Casey]

16 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I have posted this tutorial in several places, online, including this forum. I can't understand why so many guys are so set on drilling tiny holes in their distributor caps. This method is inexpensive, uses readily available materials, and works GREAT! I've been using it since the mid-'80s, or so, since Don Fahrni developed the technique.

This is one of the better methods for including the distributor end boots, which are very often overlooked, and always noticeable in their absence. Getting all nine boots cut squarely and to the exact same length seems to be the most challenging part.

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

This is one of the better methods for including the distributor end boots, which are very often overlooked, and always noticeable in their absence. Getting all nine boots cut squarely and to the exact same length seems to be the most challenging part.

 

I usually lay out a piece of masking tape, and just start cutting, until I have way too many, then I use the best ones.

[SfanGoch]

19 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I have posted this tutorial in several places, online, including this forum. I can't understand why so many guys are so set on drilling tiny holes in their distributor caps. This method is inexpensive, uses readily available materials, and works GREAT! I've been using it since the mid-'80s, or so, since Don Fahrni developed the technique.

You're absolutely right. My omission. Pretty beat when posting my reply yesterday.

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

You're absolutely right. My omission. Pretty beat when posting my reply yesterday.

I can see how it happens. There's so much information, on here, that there's no way we can remember all of it! Add fatigue into the equation...yeah!

[randyc]

Could you poke the wires all the way through the mold before casting and have the distributor wired when it comes out of the mold?  I gave up wiring engines a while back.  Occurs to me that my models never leave the house and people that see my cars may not even know what a plug wire is.   And I rarely marvel over the engine after I build the kit.  I do have a few prewireds that I bought years ago.  Just in case.

One thought I have is to make sure you have a reasonably good set of bits though.   I have *most* of a set of Kona bits that work well.   I bought a $5 set on ebay.   The points are useless on those.  they walk, they don't drill.   Basically can be used to clear out holes that already exist.   

Interesting tutorial though

[Straightliner59]

40 minutes ago, randyc said:

Could you poke the wires all the way through the mold before casting and have the distributor wired when it comes out of the mold?

I have never tried that, but, it seems feasible. I would probably use a release agent, on the wire, as a precaution. I agree about good bits.

[peteski]

This is a Monogram Ultimates 1:43 scale 2879 Cobra.  I drilled out the model's distributor using a PC Board drill bit (those are very sharp Tungsten Carbide bits with 1/8" shanks) held in a pin vise.  Those bits are very fragile (but I have large supply at hand).   This type of very small and precise work I do under magnification. I use a stereo-microscope (aka. a dissecting microscope).  1:43 scale distributor is quite small.

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by peteski

[ChrisBcritter]

Shut down the thread, we have a winner! 

[Bainford]

1/43, eh? That's some mighty clean and impressive detailing!

[peteski]

18 hours ago, Bainford said:

1/43, eh? That's some mighty clean and impressive detailing!

Thanks!  I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. I did bunch of scratchbuilding to add more details to that already nice kit. That was last automotive model I built (few years back).  I have bunch of photos of it (in progress, and finished). Someday I'll post it in the Under Glass section.

 

[Straightliner59]

On 11/10/2019 at 8:03 PM, peteski said:

This is a Monogram Ultimates 1:43 scale 2879 Cobra.  I drilled out the model's distributor using a PC Board drill bit (those are very sharp Tungsten Carbide bits with 1/8" shanks) held in a pin vise.  Those bits are very fragile (but I have large supply at hand).   This type of very small and precise work I do under magnification. I use a stereo-microscope (aka. a dissecting microscope).  1:43 scale distributor is quite small.

 

 

Sweet! I've long thought about doing one of those--or maybe the Corvette. A friend of mine, Derek Brown, built a Bill Elliott Thunderbird from a Starter kit. It was unbelievable, how thin he was able to get that body, so he could install a scratchbuilt chassis and cage in it. I wish I had photos of it. It may have been in MCM, back in its day.

[Tommy124]

5 hours ago, peteski said:

Thanks!  I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. I did bunch of scratchbuilding to add more details to that already nice kit. That was last automotive model I built (few years back).  I have bunch of photos of it (in progress, and finished). Someday I'll post it in the Under Glass section.

 

Wow - what a HUGE coin! 

Very nice model... I have both of the Monogram Ultimate 1/43 scale kits (Cobra and '67 Corvette). Did the Vette back in 1990 when those kits were just released and it looked okay with the PE parts for the exhaust etc. Some years later on, I took the chance when both kits were on sale real cheap. I guess 1/43 scale still is more of a collector's than a builder's scale. Though there are some fine kits out there. Long story short, if I build mine one day, I'd be happy if it would turn out somewhere near as good as yours! 

[peteski]

Thanks guys! I built the Corvette years ago, before digital cameras, so I didn't take any in-progress photos. Still have the model, so I'll eventually also post photos in Under Glass.  Yes, these are superb li'l gems of a kit. Those Monogram kits were well made injection-molded parts, with decent amount of details, (including photoetched parts), and the price was quite affordable. But only 2 were ever made. Like you said, too bad that 1:43 scale is mostly for collectors (finished models) and super expensive resin kits. 

Sorry for the off-topic diversion.

[Straightliner59]

The more I look at the Cobra, the more impressed I am, with it. That is some fabulous work, Peter! That it's 1/43 scale is mind-blowing. Great piece!

[peteski]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:28 AM, Straightliner59 said:

The more I look at the Cobra, the more impressed I am, with it. That is some fabulous work, Peter! That it's 1/43 scale is mind-blowing. Great piece!

Thank you Daniel.  I really feel bad for this OT diversion, but it does have (tiny) drilled and wired distributor.   I will post lots more photos in the Under Glass section one of these days.

[Tom Geiger]

On 11/10/2019 at 10:03 PM, peteski said:

This is a Monogram Ultimates 1:43 scale 2879 Cobra.  I drilled out the model's distributor using a PC Board drill bit (those are very sharp Tungsten Carbide bits with 1/8" shanks) held in a pin vise.  Those bits are very fragile (but I have large supply at hand).   This type of very small and precise work I do under magnification. I use a stereo-microscope (aka. a dissecting microscope).  1:43 scale distributor is quite small.

 

Okay, that's it!  Let's vote Pete off the board for this one!   ?

Reminds me of a story...   German engineers had proudly developed the worlds smallest drill bit. So proud they were, that they sent one to engineers around the world to celebrate the achievement.  American and Chinese engineers sent their congratulations!   Japanese engineers sent the bit back with a hole drilled in it.

[Flat32]

While I have no intention of drilling distributor caps that Cobra model so impressed me I bought one of the kits just to see one.

[Flat32]

4 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

German engineers had proudly developed the worlds smallest drill bit.

I heard the story as world's thinnest drawn wire, supposedly for telescopic sight crosshairs.