guidon112

Jim hit the bull’s-eye with this comment, I got my fuel distributor apart and sure enough the control plunger was shellacked in place, blocking the incoming fuel ports. I have it all rebuilt now silky smooth movement, just waiting on my vacuum hoses to put everything back together, found some silicone kits at Auto Zone but they were out of stock.

guidon112

Finished reassembly today, It starts and runs....poorly but it runs. The CIS rebuild was a half success, the thing leaks like crazy, but at least I know the main cause of the failure to run. I replaced all the vacuum lines and cleaned things up, and now I will attempt to seal up the CIS distro. I've read a few posts regarding CIS repair and I don't feel alone in seeing the first attempt leak. Worst comes to worst, I replace the damn thing, small price to pay to get the OB running, I'll still have less than $2500 in it to make it a go-er, then I go for the show-er

Dennis Wilson

Did you separate the two halves of the distributor? If yes, did you replace all 10 O rings? The 928 fuel distributor is less complicated than most carbs but all of the tolerences are tight and cleaning/prep is paramount. If you have access to the PCA "Up Fixin V" there is an article on rebuilding the fuel distributor, but I would recommend ignoring the part about using gasket sealer since a misapplication could adversely affect your control pressures.

Dennis

guidon112

Thanks Dennis
I have seen 2 schools of thought on the Indian head sealer, I chose to go with the dry assembly, after all there wasn’t any sealant on it from the factory. Given that the problem was only with the plunger, my afterthought is why did I pull it apart in the first place I could have just freed up the plunger and all would have been fine. Oh well Its done now. I was thinking about using sealant this time. The O-rings were all in very good condition and seemed very tight on reassembly so I didn't replace them, I will this time however. The control pressure seems very high now, but I don’t have any comparison to before because the plunger was seized and the sensor plate was free floating. I am still very happy that it runs, I knew this project was going to be rough, that’s why I bought an OB that didn't run and had rough paint, and needs some interior work. My personal gratification when complete will be epic.
Oh and I plan to resplice the wires to the WUR, some PO spliced them together and did a very poor job of it, may be affecting the operation. Another thing I found now that it runs, I may have discovered what chewed up the starter ring, there is a random grinding rattle comming from that area when its idleing, I'm thinking that the solenoid is binding and the starter gear is not fully retracting after the start, I'll be checking that this weekend also.

Dennis Wilson

My thought is no sealant. Get the mating surfaces super clean (I use razor blades to shave and smooth them). An old trick I also use is to coat the steel gasket with axle grease. This helps seal small voids but will not plug the decoupler orifices like other sealers.

The bad wiring to the WUR will only affect the cold running. Engine heat will slowly get the same results as the heater, but much slower.

Dennis