I recently rebuilt a '42-'46 distributor that was definitely a learning experience. Yes, I appreciate BUBBA'S work and have a SBC Mallory YC for him to do his magic on in the future, but I decided to do this one myself -- I mean how hard could it be?
This is an exceptionally clean distributor with only minor oxidation on the gasket surface of the case and just rust spotting on the breaker plate. Advance weights, shaft, octane piston and bore were flawless. The bushings were obviously worn so I ordered new ones from C&G.
Pressed in new bushings. Case bushing went in and was sized perfect. Breaker plate bushing went in tight (old one came out easy) and shaft wouldn't fit (it did before installation). Had to scrounge a small deepwell socket that JUST passed through it and used valve lapping compound to lap it to size by hand. The rotor area diameter on the shaft was just slightly larger than the bushing area due to wear so I had to twist the plate on past it. Good fit. So-so alignment between the two bushings. A little tight so I used the BUBBA method of lubing it up and giving it a spin for a couple minutes with points installed chucked in my drill press at low speed and I think we're good now.
This distributor shaft had the flat cap instead of the threaded screw behind the wick. I drilled the cap and popped it off. The wick was rotted halfway down so I replaced it with a length of 1/4" round kerosene lamp wick. Staked the cap back in and wired on a tag to remind me to lube and seal the hole before use.
Next project is to make a hybrid of Bruce Lancaster's dwell test fixture with the degree wheel. I like the can idea and that's what I'm going to put the battery and all of the wiring in.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257066&highlight=points&showall=1
Lonnie
This is an exceptionally clean distributor with only minor oxidation on the gasket surface of the case and just rust spotting on the breaker plate. Advance weights, shaft, octane piston and bore were flawless. The bushings were obviously worn so I ordered new ones from C&G.
Pressed in new bushings. Case bushing went in and was sized perfect. Breaker plate bushing went in tight (old one came out easy) and shaft wouldn't fit (it did before installation). Had to scrounge a small deepwell socket that JUST passed through it and used valve lapping compound to lap it to size by hand. The rotor area diameter on the shaft was just slightly larger than the bushing area due to wear so I had to twist the plate on past it. Good fit. So-so alignment between the two bushings. A little tight so I used the BUBBA method of lubing it up and giving it a spin for a couple minutes with points installed chucked in my drill press at low speed and I think we're good now.
This distributor shaft had the flat cap instead of the threaded screw behind the wick. I drilled the cap and popped it off. The wick was rotted halfway down so I replaced it with a length of 1/4" round kerosene lamp wick. Staked the cap back in and wired on a tag to remind me to lube and seal the hole before use.
Next project is to make a hybrid of Bruce Lancaster's dwell test fixture with the degree wheel. I like the can idea and that's what I'm going to put the battery and all of the wiring in.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257066&highlight=points&showall=1
Lonnie
