NickT

Another great thread to to read

Nice work!

fraggle

I'm having flashbacks from 2010 when I was rebuilding my car the week before SITM.

John Speake

Great progress Andrew ! Nothing works like a deadline to move a project onwards :-)

69gaugeman

Hey!

I put blue locktite on mine... But as long as the threads were dry and you have the wave lock washer, you should be fine

Imo000

Or....as long as you tighten the nut, you should be fine.

69gaugeman

Hey! I did tighten it!

Iwanna928

Andrew it's getting close! Can't wait to hear how she is performing without oil flying everywhere when you hit the gas!

I was cleaning the garage the other day and found two bins of stuff related to this car.

PM me your address and I will send it to you if you would like.

Keep up the good work and get that beauty on the road. I miss seeing her in my driveway, she sure is sexy!

AO

I'm long over due for an update... But where to begin?

Back on the 4th of July I got it all buttoned up. Would not start... Hmmm. Then it dawned on me that I never timed the distributor. Popped the twin dizzy out and sure enough it was out. Line it up, but it woul don't re install due to the new o-ring on the distributor. Tried to use the bolt that holds it in place to draw it in, but the ear on the distributor broke off! WTF!?

Menderes it well enough to see if it would start, and it did... Yee haw! Filled it up with coolant and it leaked out the old water pump. Crap... Got a used distributor and a new water pump. Installed and it fired right up! Woo Hoo! No leaks. Clutch was a PITA to bleed but got it good enough.

Went out to shark tune yesterday and about 3 miles from home it started running on 4 cyl. WTF!?

Got it flat bedded home. Twin dizzy drive belt was gone! Must had been dry rotted. Swapped belt over from the broken distributor. Got everything line up and it barely runs.

The distributor does not seem to be engaging fully with the drive gear on the cam. So it quickly goes out of time with the engine. I'm thinking I have to pull that cam tower off and replace the cam drive gear. The new and old distributors look identical (length, size of gear, etc).

So as much as I'd like to drive it, it's down for at least another couple weeks... Ugh!

Imo000

Where is the wear pattern on the old distributor gear, down low?

AO

Wear looks fine. Mics well. Sure wish they would have made the drive gear in steel and te distributor in brass...

69gaugeman

Maybe I'm missing something, but even if the drive gear is engaged by half a tooth it will keep time. It would have to jump a tooth and that would change it by some 10 degrees each time it jumped. Two or three teeth and it would stop.

When you pull the cap after moving it to TDC is the rotor that far out? If the major diameter of the drive gear is the same as the other one it is not worn out. What does the drive gear on the cam look like? Can you post a couple of pictures?

AO

Hi Rod-

Yeah... it's that far out. Plus there seems to be quite a bit of gear-lash when the distributor is in. I don't have pics of the cam gear, but I will grab some tonight.

Now that I have a little extra time, let me give you the FULL story.

When I tried to install the original distributor, and the ear broke off, I tried to JB weld it back together to so I could test it. It lasted a minute or two - enough to see that the engine works. But the JB weld failed and the distributor popped up and out. I think that's when the damage occurred to the cam drive gear. THere was a TINY but of brass on the bottom of the distributor.

When I got the replacement distributor it went in just fine and seemed to run fine (minus sharktuning)... that is until the belt in the replacement distributor disintegrated and left me stranded. I got the car flatbedded home where I took the belt from the broken distributor and put it on the good distributor. Are you with me so far?

Now, when I line things up it all looks good - Car at TDC and the distributors pointing at their little notches on the distributor housing... then when I try to start it, it barely runs. When I put it back to TDC, the distributors are no longer aligned with the little notches.

So my conclusion is that the drive belt in the distributor is good and holds fine. The drive gear on the distributor is in the exact same position as the old broken one. The only thing that I cannot account for is the drive gear on the cam. That has to be it, no?

Here are a bunch of pics.

Broken Distributor - the little holes were put there for the JB weld to have some bite - but it didn't work.


Broke Distributor belt




The two side by side... Same size, length, diameter, etc.

John Speake

Hi Andrew, you definitely have #1 cyl on the firing TDC with the distributor rotor pointing to the #1 plug lead output ?

Lizard928

Look at the gear with your borescope.......

However that ear can be welded back onto the distributor.......

BC

Cap it off and go megasquirt, or have colin help with Vems or something. It may be cheaper in the long run, if you factor in time and hassle.