‘53 distributor end play
I had posted months ago about a problem I had with my ‘53 Ranch Wagon getting hot and starting to run poorly. EAB motor with Offy heads and 2-2 intake, dual exhaust and Mallory dual point distributor. After getting hot, it ran very rough, and I thought it had vapor locked. Turned on electric pump and no improvement. It would barely run. Over the next couple weeks, I tried new coil, new condenser, sent distributor to Charlie Schwendler and he said it was good. Did compression check and numbers were ok. Checked as best I could for vacuum leaks. Now won’t run at all and will only get maybe one quick fire of cylinder.
I was reading ‘49-‘53 service manual the other day and noticed that rebuilding of Loadamatic distributors call for end play of 0.002 to 0.005” measured with a feeler gauge at the drive gear… not much clearance. Was messing with the Mallory distributor the other day and noticed a “lot” of axial movement at the rotor. Just pulled it out and it has about 0.065” of play. That seems like it’s way too loose. I assume the cam drive gear will push the shaft “up”, but there still could be some axial motion and rotor gap variation that could cause my intermittent spark issue. Any thoughts? And should I remove the roll pin and redrill with a lot less clearance? Any concern with too many holes drilled in the drive gear and shaft? Distributor gear and shaft has already been drilled twice for some reason.
Thanks
I had posted months ago about a problem I had with my ‘53 Ranch Wagon getting hot and starting to run poorly. EAB motor with Offy heads and 2-2 intake, dual exhaust and Mallory dual point distributor. After getting hot, it ran very rough, and I thought it had vapor locked. Turned on electric pump and no improvement. It would barely run. Over the next couple weeks, I tried new coil, new condenser, sent distributor to Charlie Schwendler and he said it was good. Did compression check and numbers were ok. Checked as best I could for vacuum leaks. Now won’t run at all and will only get maybe one quick fire of cylinder.
I was reading ‘49-‘53 service manual the other day and noticed that rebuilding of Loadamatic distributors call for end play of 0.002 to 0.005” measured with a feeler gauge at the drive gear… not much clearance. Was messing with the Mallory distributor the other day and noticed a “lot” of axial movement at the rotor. Just pulled it out and it has about 0.065” of play. That seems like it’s way too loose. I assume the cam drive gear will push the shaft “up”, but there still could be some axial motion and rotor gap variation that could cause my intermittent spark issue. Any thoughts? And should I remove the roll pin and redrill with a lot less clearance? Any concern with too many holes drilled in the drive gear and shaft? Distributor gear and shaft has already been drilled twice for some reason.
Thanks
