Postby Workshop Help » 30 May 2014 11:34
Ahhh, yes, Good Morning Mr Lewis. Those little 'cartridges' are called Flame Traps. Supposedly, they are to prevent flame from a back fire spreading to, in this case, the distributor. That's right, a back fire. A 'back fire' is when the engine burps back thru the intake tract. An 'after fire' is when an engine burps out the exhaust tract.
Is the Flame Trap needed to supply our cars with it's daily vitamins and minerals, or any other benefit? Since removing all of mine some three decades ago, my TR7 has lived happily ever after with no adverse reactions. I really don't see the need for the things. Now, on to that vacuum hose.
The vacuum hose for the distributor is attached to a spigot on the under side of the intake manifold runners for the front carburetor. At least it is for the 1975 and 1976 model year cars.
Some folks substitute a length of 1/4" rubber hose in place of the poly-vinyl multi piece piping to eliminate a lot of un-needed plumbing. Some folks theorize by doubling the cross sectional area of the vacuum signal, the retard mechanism will be jerked backward a little quicker to keep an errant idle speed in control. But then again, some folks think my peach cobbler is worth writing home about. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions.
Mildred Hargis
