I thought I had read the instructions for how to static time this distributor so many times that it would be a cinch. Not.
I started my evening last night with pressing in the new distributor housing and breaker plate bushings. Both went in fairly easy, but the top one (breaker plate, small bushing) was very tight to the distributor shaft. Tighter than I expected. But, with some oil and using a crescent wrench to turn the shaft via the shaft's two tangs, it did spin and did loosen up a bit. I suspect it will be OK after it runs for a bit.
Note that I'm pretty certain I did not deform the breaker plate when I pressed the bushing in, as to bend it out of alignment from the housing bushing. I inserted the shaft into the small bushing, and it was tight at that point. I actually had to press the shaft in - it was too tight a fit to manually press together. (I got the bushings from our host.)
Then, I installed the breaker plate/shaft assembly into the housing and the breaker plate retaining clip/wire. I rotated the shaft to cause a lobe to fully open the points and I set the point gap to .015". No big deal there.
Next - static timing. I scratched a fine line with an awl, 1/4" away from the proper bolt hole in the housing (the bolt hole closest to the bail wire). I then used my 6" steel rule, set next to the tangs on the wide side of the shaft, to eyeball-confirm it was aligned with my scratch.
However, here's where things didn't happen as expected. Rotating the breaker plate, I could not move the plate enough to actually open the points. I know the proper setting is "stop just as the points are starting to open", but I was expecting that point to be about mid-way in the CW / CCW rotation adjustment range of the breaker plate. With my plate all the way clockwise (maximum advanced position), the point's lobe follower is starting to ride the lobe's "ramp", but the points are still not opening. I was using an ohm meter to test for the points being closed or open, and they were always closed (no resistance).
It's quite a chore to keep the shaft from turning while adjusting the breaker plate. Since the upper (small) bushing was so tight, I think that compounded the issue.
Any tips for how to lock the shaft in the proper position while making this adjustment?
Another observation was that the rotor is pointing to #3 wire when setting the static timing, but perhaps that's just coincidence and doesn't make a difference. (I learned a long time ago that you can pretty much stick a car distributor in every which way but upside down, as long as when you were done, the #1 wire and the rotor line up and the #1 piston was TDC on the compression stroke.)
Thanks for any tips. Todd
I started my evening last night with pressing in the new distributor housing and breaker plate bushings. Both went in fairly easy, but the top one (breaker plate, small bushing) was very tight to the distributor shaft. Tighter than I expected. But, with some oil and using a crescent wrench to turn the shaft via the shaft's two tangs, it did spin and did loosen up a bit. I suspect it will be OK after it runs for a bit.
Note that I'm pretty certain I did not deform the breaker plate when I pressed the bushing in, as to bend it out of alignment from the housing bushing. I inserted the shaft into the small bushing, and it was tight at that point. I actually had to press the shaft in - it was too tight a fit to manually press together. (I got the bushings from our host.)
Then, I installed the breaker plate/shaft assembly into the housing and the breaker plate retaining clip/wire. I rotated the shaft to cause a lobe to fully open the points and I set the point gap to .015". No big deal there.
Next - static timing. I scratched a fine line with an awl, 1/4" away from the proper bolt hole in the housing (the bolt hole closest to the bail wire). I then used my 6" steel rule, set next to the tangs on the wide side of the shaft, to eyeball-confirm it was aligned with my scratch.
However, here's where things didn't happen as expected. Rotating the breaker plate, I could not move the plate enough to actually open the points. I know the proper setting is "stop just as the points are starting to open", but I was expecting that point to be about mid-way in the CW / CCW rotation adjustment range of the breaker plate. With my plate all the way clockwise (maximum advanced position), the point's lobe follower is starting to ride the lobe's "ramp", but the points are still not opening. I was using an ohm meter to test for the points being closed or open, and they were always closed (no resistance).
It's quite a chore to keep the shaft from turning while adjusting the breaker plate. Since the upper (small) bushing was so tight, I think that compounded the issue.
Any tips for how to lock the shaft in the proper position while making this adjustment?
Another observation was that the rotor is pointing to #3 wire when setting the static timing, but perhaps that's just coincidence and doesn't make a difference. (I learned a long time ago that you can pretty much stick a car distributor in every which way but upside down, as long as when you were done, the #1 wire and the rotor line up and the #1 piston was TDC on the compression stroke.)
Thanks for any tips. Todd