9N/8N Replacement Distributor shafts

if it help,s my Evaluations: I paid top dollar for a new dist. camshaft assembly, to me high at + $90 and discovered the throw slots, although reversed in the advance
were advertised to work the same on the "net". not the package! I was not going to use it after I also obtained another one for under $30 from Amazon (slots correct
angle). In comparison at full disassembly of both I saw no real advantage to the extra cost. Neither had a wick in a hole I know of for the top bearing. So I put the
china one in my Mill and put a hole from the drive end to the cross spotted hole and fixed that. I then tapped the drive end plug hole 1/16-NPT and inserted a used
Wick and flush mount 1/16 NPT set screw. Soaking the daylights out of it with oil for days, after it was in and before plugging it. Even the original Ford parts are
not full hardened but case only? (I have discovered in the past on this particular little part, center and exterior are machineable). Lacking a Rockwell test who
really knows what QC was?
These Front Mount dist. are truly Opposed Axis rotating shafts, self-contained in rotation with self supporting bearings for each. Since they are bushings and not
Conrad's is asking for or is prone to need more attention. It is all also driven by a off center or eccentricity mating key, describes why we like them I suppose of
our own brains! Technically only in Physics it workable with perfect alignments and precision hard lubed bearings, these just need more care is all. With a eccentric
drive, a strong point spring and not much lube and oilites..hmm.
The China one I kept, had a lousy external snap ring at the Top bearing, I could not live with, so I simply used the original in its place. If that bottom swirl groove
is gone that throws the oil back out of the dist. is missing, it is because it's simply worn off. In the bottom new bearing you replace, drill the holes through the
new bearing and the engine lube can do the job, but you need that spiral groove also and it was cut with purpose in a direction to throw the oil out of the Distributor
based upon its own rotation if you think about it and hold one in your hand and just turn it wise as it goes.

I suspect all or most parts are made in Cheena nowadays, with several suppliers as well, so parts will vary on quality. I have not seen any USA made cam & weights but then have not looked closely either. FWIW: In 1943 FORD released an optional cast iron distributor body. I recently bought one on fleabay and when I disassembled it, there was a cast iron cam & weights set as well.

[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td></tr></table>

I hate to see people waste money on new distributor parts. Nobody makes new parts that work. Exception would be the New Holland dealer for points, mcmaster/carr for screws and echlin for cam lube. If you had asked nicely I would have given you a used cam and weights. I also collect distributors with broken housings so that I have spare parts ;-)

For these front mounts, What I"d like to find is a Rotor replacement that actually fits on snugly, they all seem to wobble. I"ll take and shim the flat after I get a caliper dimension of the mating parts. Placing the offset drive key in a vice and turning the Rotor back and forth they have no held position, but should. What little advance that does happen or is supposed too at the point lobe cam may or may not be realized with the lost motion on a sloppy Rotor. I made up wood board to mount the Dist. to and a driver for my drill motor and connected a Dwell Meter out of curiosity (another experiment). As I put a light slight side load in different directions when spinning it the Dwell jumped all over the map. That was from "worn oilite bearings" upper and lower and the same would happen on a tractor with a offset driver like they have. Electronic ignition won"t fix that. I do like the old 9N distributors better, I think the Point Backing plate is a heavier gage plate.
I discovered after putting in new bearing sleeves properly supported in removal/assembly, to slide the upper bearing on a mandrel in my lathe and check for trueness. The face of them wobble! So I use a Crescent and bend them so they are true and then size the bearing if needed. Otherwise oversizing new bearings may occur to get the plate down inside the base.

Farmer Dan, If I had not prior already retrofitted a shiny new foreign part for under $30, and myself being particular as I am about necessity Geometrically and dimensions I would have reached
out, but what is done is done. The stuff available for that component part are of no equal to originals I wholeheartedly agree. Out of the box they "still need fixing"! Not all have machining
capability to do what I did. The one I had on this spare and the original had worn .437 top diameters "below" the rotor diam. A general rule of thumb (Machinery Handbook) in running clearance
is .001 per inch of dia. on oiled bronze static bearings. We gain a lot more than needed clearance getting it over the rotor dia. at .437 and a after it, a worn smaller dia. of .3565 to .436
is all, which = slop.
A replacement single camshaft without bells and whistles match the original one would be nice.
In my kindly asking now, would you have a coil? I had one but lent it out to a neighbor to troubleshoot starting on his N, they said it didn't help and then the tractor along with my spare
coil, not returned and his son were gone to Texas, sorry for asking but?

Tim PloughNman Daley, I wonder have you ever stuck a magnet on these cast cam weights yet? I have a original cast iron shaft assembly myself but the weights are still of aluminum. It weighs more only due to the cast iron shaft alone perhaps?

(quoted from post at 14:00:00 10/14/19) Tim PloughNman Daley, I wonder have you ever stuck a magnet on these cast cam weights yet? I have a original cast iron shaft assembly myself but the weights are still of aluminum. It weighs more only due to the cast iron shaft alone perhaps?

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"What little advance that does happen or is supposed too at the point lobe cam may or may not be realized with the lost motion on a sloppy Rotor. In these distributors (unlike many more modern distrubutors), the mechanical/centrifugal advance is completely divorced from the rotor position.

I only have one coil left and it sits on the test machine I made. I think you are right about the weights, no matter what the housing is made of all the weights are aluminum or pot metal.

Thank you for the same conclusion, a dirty piece of a non-magnetic alloy "looks" like any other metal. The magnetic test is best. I didn"t really need a spare coil, since it was just a spare.
I lent out without hesitation and is gone. Spare small anything is "golden" on these beauties, over time. I will never give up my point"s and 6V positive ground. They work just fine and every
couple years need a little attention, like maybe oiling the generator rear bearing might.

It matters where you buy from; try Dennis Carpenter or better yet, NAPA, p/n FD-104, it is Made In The USA and fist properly.


[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

The OEM cam and weights are ferrous (iron) so if not cast iron they'll be steel. If you have aluminum you have cheap aftermarket crap.


[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

(quoted from post at 04:50:30 10/14/19) ......."I made up wood board to mount the Dist. to and a driver for my drill motor and connected a Dwell Meter out of curiosity (another experiment). As I put a light slight side load in different directions when spinning it the Dwell jumped all over the map. That was from "worn oilite bearings" upper and lower and the same would happen on a tractor with a offset driver like they have. Electronic ignition won"t fix that...."

Click to expand...

For breaker point ignitions the dwell is dependent on the point gap setting. If the point gap changes from bearing clearance etc. yes, indeed the dwell will change. Have you tested an electronic ignition in your rig.? The Pertronix kit uses a hall effect trigger (?) and as such should not be as sensitive to gap setting/changes.

I guess it would mostly depend upon the allowable air gap tolerance window + & - in a pickup sensor to the cam lobe mags. If spark advance changes with electronic 6v kits as point systems you
probably will see a dwell change with bearing slop on a bench test. Just no more point dog wear to deal with every couple years.

Correct but if the Rotor can freely turn a degree or two on its axis because of sloppy, cheap, fit's who knows what the mechanical cam advance is affecting. The rotor could be doing anything
it pleases in relation to the Distributor Cap contacts. Retarding or Advancing when not locked in a controlled in position. Only then the advance controls everything.

Let me know if you tried a Magnet yet on just the edge of your weights. Any Iron or steel of any kind a magnet will stick to. Some Stainless steels are also the same way magnetically.

I'll give it try at NAPA then, most anything would be better if it fits snugly. I have not run across one yet and keep shimming the flat. I wished I would have saved the one that did, I probably didn't really need to replace but file a little. Hindsight wisdom.

Tim PloughNman Daley, Thank you,
So you know, I did get that NAPA rotor today and when I put in "on" and inverted the assembly toward gravity, the Rotor stayed on all by itself!! Thanks so much for that part information for the rotor. Beyond a magnet on a RPM centrifugal force for advance weight, pot metal will not spark on a grinding wheel and steel and Iron "will" but of different colors. We always called it the spark test in the shop and after awhile in doing it you can recognize the color of the spark off a grinding wheel and know what it is made of as a Alloy.