Distributor shaft question.

D

Dan1928

Member
When I Pulled my distributor out of my model a to put a new head gasket on, the 2 shafts of the distributor were not attached. Are the lower shaft and upper shaft supposed to be connected .Thank you .
 
It all depends on the type of shaft
Some are one long shaft used early in production and later changed to a two piece shaft. I prefer the two piece.
 
Thank you. Mine is definitely two pieces. The lower shaft just comes out of the block, while the upper shaft comes out of the distributor and goes thru the head to connect. I saw a sleeve and pin in MACSAUTO that appears to be used (which I did not have on the 2 pieces when I tore the head off). I subsequently bought the rebuild kit and think it should have it. Of course no instructions from Macs. I hope I made sense. It just seemed odd that I did not have this piece on tear down.
 
The center section on the 2 piece floats between the drive at the bottom and short shaft in the distributor. This is so any small misalignment between the center lines of the distributor and drive can be compensated for.
? I thought the one piece shafts were replacements and that Ford used the 2 piece system. If Ford did use the one piece shaft early on when did they upgrade to the other style?
 
We had a one piece shaft in a June 1929 never rebuilt engine. Replaced with two piece shaft on rebuilt distributor. Made a big difference. I understand the one piece shaft can be bent after years of use. Enjoy.
 
The upper and lower shafts are not pinned together.

If you are thinking of this part...

64-20958.jpg


https://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_model_a/model-a-ford-distributor-shaft-sleeve-and-pin-set-2-pieces.html

...it is pinned to the stub shaft on the distributor and the upper shaft fits into it, not to pin the upper and lower shafts together.
 
This is what the bottom of your distributor should look like.

Bob
 

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