Amber Gramps

I finally got the guts to swap out the disributor cap and rotor after discovering it was the reason for the hard starts after I washed the car. Cost was $61.00 at Performance Products. The results are a much smoother idle, better throtle responce, and the big one...no more on/off throtle. My butt dyno says it improved everything but camber and toe! It deffinatly has a better low end.

The inside of the old cap looked to be original. I was looking for the 0696 (last four digits of my VIN) on it but didn't find it. The rotor was toast. The spring was all but gone. The contacts were deeply etched and I could see where the spark traveled out and about.

I took a fiew pictures and dropped the camera and well, you'll see.

Thank you Peter Z. for all the pointer. I owe you at least $100 for the help. Oh and time: 45 minutes

of course the two good pictures are too big...

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Nice job, Doug,....


That bottom pic is pure art,....

Amber Gramps

I dropped the camera and I had visions of a $250 ding. I pulled out the memory card and pushed it back in to find the thing was back to normal.

I could say the bottom picture just shows how much faster the car is...

see the brown pool of gunk at the botom of the distributor and the spark line on the inside of the cap. holly crap Iceman

Ed Hughes

You should feel a difference, based on the looks of the old stuff!!

Peter Zimmermann

...and it'll even start after you wash the car!

Amber Gramps

Took the wife and car out for a drive tonight. I don't think I have ever driven anything that was so smooth and fast. She's a new car. Now, when I let off the gas it doesn't drop the RPM's so quickly. The low end torque is twice what it was. and it makes second and third gear ungodly strong.

tone40

I got the Borg Warner products from Pep Boys via special order. $46 for cap and $10 for rotor. Removing the spark plug wires was a real PTIA. Plus, the keyway for positioning the cap to the distributor was not well defined.

I also replaced the air filter. All the items has about $13K miles on them.

Significant performance improvements.

LaughaC

Nicely done. Upgrading to MSD and electronic ignition boosted my car's performance in a similar manner.

GeneralTso

I'm surprised no one's changed their username to Butt Dyno yet!

Oshin11

hey doug maybe you could explain to me how one is supposed to get that F-ING screw on the left side of the cap to turn. It was hard enough getting the right one to pop out. Left one is just being stripped by my useless attempts. What is the trick?

Droops83

Man that's what I love about old(er) cars, is after a tuneup, you feel like you've actually done a tuneup (especially in older points/carb'd cars)! We work on newer Porsches and BMWs as well, and it's kindof a bummer that the customer has to pay $1000 for a major service and the car oftentimes does not feel all that different after, it was just a maintenance service (though very necessary for the long term health of the car obviously). Newer cars (especially BMWs!) are so adaptive, they will run great (up to a point) w/ huge vacuum leaks, worn spark plugs, etc. I love the feel of a 3.2 Carrera fresh off a major service, clean AFM and perfect CO! Good job.

Droops83

Oshin11, use a flathead screwdriver on those distributor cap screws, not a Phillips. You have to push down on the screw against the spring pressure as you turn it, and twist it a 1/2 turn, you'll see the L-shaped part on bottom pop out from under the tab on the distributor if you've done it right.

Amber Gramps

Droops, I called him and told him to remove the big black air duct first. He is gonna hold off 'till morning. sounds like he is going back to school at UCSB and may want to get to know you....

I had to take a double take when I saw the mechanical advance....It's been 15 years I think.

Oshin11

Droops check your PMs

gtc

I just replaced my cap & rotor after the center electrode in the cap broke(!) yesterday morning. I left the heater ducts in place and used a really long, thin screwdriver to release the clip on the left side of the cap. Getting the wires off the old cap was a pain, but doable.

The distributor shaft was a little rusty underneath the rotor. Is there something I could/should use to lubricate the inside of the distributor?