The Maestro's Quiz, What's Wrong With The Distributor- Part 2:
      
      

     If you'll recall, Steve's '57 Speedster ran verrrry badly, backfiring
back through the Carbs, wouldn't go faster than 4500 RPM, etc. 
As part of the Debugging Process, the Maestro
replaced a mildly bad Original Distributor with a new .050, expecting
only a mild change. He got instead a DRAMATIC change- the car
suddenly ran Right! Turned out the Original Distributor was the CAUSE
of most all the problems!
      The Owner asked the Maestro what could POSSIBLY have been
wrong with the Original Distributor that could have had such a 
Dramatically BAD affect on the Engine- imitating Bad Solexes so 
perfectly that Everybody at Monterey said surely the Carbs be bad.
     (At first, the Maestro couldn't imagine WHY any Distributor
in its right mind would want to impersonate BAD Solexes, until
a Flash of Inspiration hit him:
      OF COURSE- Clearly, after 100 Years of Auto Evolution 
Auto Parts have now evolved Self-Preservation! An Auto Part will
apparently do almost anything, even impersonate Bad Solexes,
to avoid going to Auto Part Hell- the Junk Yard, and eventually, the 
Blast Furnace. 
     But ifin an Auto Part successfully masquerades as a bad something else, 
the something else gets replaced! Not it.)
      The Maestro grabbed the still warm Distributor, plucked from the 
engine's womb, and eyeballed it. It looked like a Rebuilt Original 
Distributor.
      By rotating the shaft, he aligned the Rotor to point to
the Notch in the Distributor's body- #1 cylinder. Then,
he slowly rotated the shaft back and forth, watching the points
open for #1 cylinder. They opened up just like they should. No Surprise here.
      So he rotated the Distributor's shaft further clockwise to open the 
points for the Second Cylinder in the Firing Order. Which, since the firing 
Order is 1-4-3-2, would be? That's right, Number 4 Cylinder.
      He eyeballed the points on Number 4 cylinder and, and, and...
they opened just like they should. This is getting a little
BORING said the sometimes Impulsive Center of Higher Reasoning.
      So he rotated the distributor to the next cylinder in firing order
and that is? Now, let's not see all the same hands. That's right-
the Dreaded Number 3 Cylinder. 
     Again, he eyeballed the Points whilst turning the shaft clockwise,
and waited for the cam lobe on the Distributor to open the points.
And waited for the cam lobe to open the points. And waited. And waited. 
Until it was Intuitively Obvious to M. Casual Observer that
the points WEREN'T OPENING for #3 Cylinder! Nor, as it turned out, 
for #2 cylinder either!!!
      So, HOW can an Original Distributor fail in such a way as to
do THAT- fire 2 Cylinders and not fire two others, I hear you cry 
incredulously!

     That's Part 2 of the Quiz!

KEEP THE 356 FAITH!
The Maestro