Distributor repair

MN Pete · Apr 17, 2013

I was installing new points and capacitor in my 8N side mount distributor and broke the copper strip connector that attaches to the point set. As long as I have to replace the copper strip, I thought I may as well replace the primary screw and its insulators. (This is what the single wire attaches to on the distributor body). The tractor is on a hobby farm 50 miles from my house, so I can’t just walk to the barn and take a quick peek at it. Can I replace the primary screw without removing the distributor from the tractor and dismantling it? If I can leave the distributor attached to the tractor, do I have to remove anything from it to get to the primary screw? I would like to leave the distributor attached to the tractor as I am less likely to break anything else while removing it and I don’t want to mess up the timing.

Any suggestions or hints?

JMOR · Apr 17, 2013

(quoted from post at 14:49:34 04/17/13) I was installing new points and capacitor in my 8N side mount distributor and broke the copper strip connector that attaches to the point set. As long as I have to replace the copper strip, I thought I may as well replace the primary screw and its insulators. (This is what the single wire attaches to on the distributor body). The tractor is on a hobby farm 50 miles from my house, so I can’t just walk to the barn and take a quick peek at it. Can I replace the primary screw without removing the distributor from the tractor and dismantling it? If I can leave the distributor attached to the tractor, do I have to remove anything from it to get to the primary screw? I would like to leave the distributor attached to the tractor as I am less likely to break anything else while removing it and I don’t want to mess up the timing.

Any suggestions or hints?

believe the feedthrough can be replaced without distributor removal, if you don't drop parts down into the centrifugal advance area of distributor. Even if you do & can't fish them out, the distributor can be left in place & by removal of 2 screws, the breaker plate is easily removed (no timing impact) to allow retrieval of dropped parts.

Kurt-NEPA · Apr 17, 2013

I think you can do it just fine, but it may depend on how your distributor is timed. Here is a picture of mine.

In this position, it shouldn't be hard to do. Once the cap is off, you can get to the inside easily. As JMOR said, hang on to those screws. A extendable magnet can be your best friend.

This picture reminds me that I have some clean up to do this spring.

Distributor repair

MN Pete

New User

JMOR

Well-known Member

Kurt-NEPA

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