How do I get the *&%#@ Distributor out???

R

rockingchair

Junior Member
I have been playing with "A"'s for over 40 years and know most of their tricks. BUT I have to have my roadster pickup running in two weeks and I have no spare time. The dist shaft is seized and won't turn. I pulled the side cover and the drive gear assy turns but the upper shaft does not turn. I can't remember if it has a 1 piece or 2 piece shaft in it.
I CAN"T GET THE DIST OUT. The retaining screw has been removed. I have lightly set a wedge under the dist body and soaked everything down with Kroil. I don't want to pull the head as the engine is quite worn (you can hear the pistons swapping cylinders at a slow idle :D) and it may not survive the surgary.
Can I use a valve guide removing tool or something similar to reach through the valve chamber to tap it out???
I have a dozen or so people counting on this beastie running.

Thanks
Bill
 
Brattons has a Distributor removal tool. It is Part #17680. It costs $37.15. I have never used one, but it looks like it would solve your problem if nothing else works.
 
I bought mine from Ron, when he first started making them. I beleive Bill Stipe is making them now. They work great so far. I have removed about a dozen with it, only one was really stubborn. Rod
 
Success After soaking the area in Kroil overnight, putting tension on the parts with a couple of well-placed chisels and applying a little heat it moved a little. A little more heat and a lot of pressure and it came out!!!!
Patience and an oxy-acy torch helped.
 
I make it practice to remove the distributor from my Model A's every time I tune them up and change oil, which is at about 1,000 mile intervals. This prevent rust from leakage or condensation from freezing them in place. Once I have them out I clean the recess in the head and apply a light coat of vasoline. With the distrutor out I clean it up and wire wheel off any rust that has adhered to the base. I dress the points with a file, reset them, lube the cam and reinstall it. It makes it a lot easier on the back standing at a work bench with the distributor clamped in a vice and with a bright light on it. Not necessary to reset the timing as I don't loosen the cam screw. Following this procedure I have never had a problem removing a distributor. I don't have the pop-out cable clamped to the head so I can remove the distributor with out breaking the torque on the head bolt.

The tool is a good thing to have if you take apart Model A engines that have sat for years. I have seen a number of distributor housings broken trying to get them out.

Tom Endy
 
I was working on a friend's '28 Tudor last summer and we needed to pull the distributor. It was really in there and we tried that puller tool. All it did was pull the shaft out of the distributor. We had to remove the head to get the thing out. That wasn't easy either.
 
"Good idea. Plus, you can use a little longer head stud and double-nut the ignition cable onto it, so that you can use a clamp and not disturb the head torque."
Jeff\Illinois


I tried to do that one time by using one of the water housing studs. I cut it to length and added more threads with a dye. Wrong thing to do. The original threads on the head studs are apparently cut on some type of maching. Using a dye did not produce adequate threads and they stripped out below the nut and lost the torque. The head gasket soon blew between the 3 & 4 cyclinders. The #8 stud sits right above the 3&4, and is the most delicate area of the head gasket. I use the standard #8 stud, but have a stainless steel 1\4" spacer under the nut.

Trying to find a facory made stud the proper length to use the double nut scheme is what I have not been able to do.

Tom Endy
 
Tom Endy said:
...The original threads on the head studs are apparently cut on some type of maching. Using a dye did not produce adequate threads and they stripped out below the nut and lost the torque...

Tom Endy
Click to expand...

Almost all production threads are rolled on stock that is smaller than nominal. The rolling process displaces metal from the root of the thread to the crest to make it full-size. Threads cut on the original stock diameter will be missing much of their profile, and most of their strength.

Bert's catalog shows a 4-1/2" stud for the early cars using the cast retainer. It would probably be long enough to catch some threads on the second nut with a stamped steel retainer.

Joe
 
cars56 said:
Is the dist pulled out while at TDC? Or just pull it?
Click to expand...

cars56,
just pull it! you will notice that the slot/tang is offset...so goes in one way. if going to retime and/or loosen cam screw, i always preset number one top dead ctr.

bill,
after you have cleaned your removed dist, and prior to reinstall, put a liberal coat of 'neverseize' lub on cleaned lower dist areas and in block!
no seizing then:).
 
Look at a late 31 dissy base. The portion that goes into the head has a flat spot to let any trapped vapors out. Ya might gtiond a flatness in the one you have.
clem
 
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