Rotor Clip 8BA Distributor

M

Mike C

Junior Member
I have a cast iron distributor on my engine. From what research I've done, there are 2 different types of springs that keep the rotor tight on the shaft. One is a clip that snaps on and the other is a piece of spring steel that fits in a diagonal slot near the top of the dist. shaft. My dist. has the slotted type. When I installed new points etc. the spring broke. It took me awhile to even find a vendor who sells that type. Many of the vendors just sell the clip on type.

My question is, how do I get the bottom part of the spring out of the slot so I can install a new spring?
 
Those were early types. Likely the 7RA that was used for the first of the 8BA/7RA truck engines in 1948. The first 1949 Ford & Mercury cars likely had them too. I haven't looked at one of those real close so I don't know how they cut the slot but I do know it's on an angle. From illustrations I have for it, it appears to me that you may have to find or fabricate a tool that is just slightly thinner than the slot and can be used to tap on it to try and force it out the side. A small flat tip screw driver might get it to start but it can't go all the way. Apply some heat (no more than say 250 degrees F) and it may help it start to move.
 
Can I use a distributor that has the clip type? I would think that if the length is the same, it would work.
 
Not all are directly interchangeable. The 7RA has the distributor body supported shaft type while the later OBA ones have a small boss on the timing cover to support the bottom of the shaft below the gear so they don't interchange unless you replace the timing cover. If it has no extended shaft below the gear, it will fit the early type timing covers.
 
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