OK, I did not want to hijack the Distributor thread, so here goes.... My car runs like a top (knock on wood!) and I'd like to keep it that way. I bought it with the intention of working on it myself. The only thing that i've never really played with on a motor is the distributor/ignition system, otherwise I'm a typical DIY'er who is not afraid to get dirty. Is there any type of preventive maintance that I can do with my distributors to keep them running in tip top shape or do they just get funky and funkier over time? I *believe* that I have a twin set up as there are caps on each bank with multiple wires off of each cap. I've been searching the archives on distributors and reading them all but have not seen anything on keeping them up except to not let them get wet. Any advice is much appreciated. TIA! JIM '74 Euro GT4
Hi If you are still running points then you should lube the felt pad that touches the cam lobes. I think the owners manual says every 6000km. Your om will have a diagram and lube interval. Besides that and checking gap and dwell there is nothing much to do. Gerrit http://dino308gt4.com
Thanks! I'll look for that in the owners manual. Hopefully, I'll be good on the dizzys for a while! JIM
If you have a single distributor setup, a good thing could be to install pertronix item MR-181. See picture of my install and the help from pertronix. Runs very well and you don't need to change points anymore. If you need help just ask ! Alessandro Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I can post with some confidence as one of the uninitiated . These distributors are quite complex. I myself have probably spent hours sifting through the F-chat and old F-chat archives about them. From my perspective there are four horsemen: 1) Death. They banish the distributors in favor of something like Electromotive with a crank pickup and computers to control. 2) Famine. They ignore the whole thing driving about for mile upon mile of ignorant bliss. Until, of course, the day of reckoning when they find themselves stranded roadside scratching their head in disbelief. 3) Pestilence. Armed with the arguably wise coutenance of consultants they replace the points with something like Pertronix which guts the points but I suppose still relies on the Rube Goldberg part of the distributor for advance. 4) War. True knights proceeding onwards with shining armor maintaining all as needed. They would rather push their 308 than use some modernized electronic ignition. Some of the most valiant have even purchased museum quality Sun distributor machines. They clean and lube the collection of springs and weights of the advance mechanism and tune thusly on the distributor machine. Probably a huge misconception but hopefully you get the idea . I have great respect for all. Myself? I have a hard time eliminating the points because of the elegance and originality to the car. I pulled out the R2 points (I have a '78 with the funky 2 point emission setup). I replaced my condensor. I replaced the points and lubed and gapped. Next I think I need to clean and lube the advance mechanism. After setting my timing at 5000 rpm I found the timing way off at idle on both banks . The car is running way better than when I started but it bugs me that the marks don't line up at idle. Seamus
AWESOME description!! Myself, I'm going with Famine, that is until I'm on the roadside testing out my towing service. THEN Death! I will scrap the whole set up for an Electromotive. Possibly before, but we'll see. First the car gets new shoes and laces. (328 wheels), then I have to prioritize my projects....Interior restore, Suspension bushings, etc..., Steering rack rebuild (likely FIRST), Sodium Valves (How lucky do I feel?) whatever else comes along.... JIM Driving it like I stole it....But not this week with all the thunderstorms...
The mechanical parts can get gummed up and cause problems also. If you take the distributors off, it might not be a bad idea to check and clean the advance mechanisms. Personally, I couldn't imagine doing any critical alignment work on the timing without making sure the advance mechanism works ok. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136298673&postcount=232
I went this route - bought a dizzy machine (Allen 1415 Syncrograph from 1954! The same as "Sir Mike" has... ) and mapped out the advance curve and adjusted to correct spec. I was lucky and picked mine up dirt cheap through an ad I placed with one of the car clubs I belong to - which resulted in about three leads a day after I placed that ad! You'd be surprised at how many are kicking around in somebody's garage. In any case, the one I bought was a bit dusty and the wiring was quite scary but understandable considering it was over 50 years old. I got her running and I was in the midst of adapting it to work with the Crane XR700 ignition I am using with these distributors (switched to points for testing on the machine as that is what it is designed for), but haven't finished that part yet. This is an indispensible tool to have if you wish to be completely independant from a service shop. If you can get one cheap enough, it'll pay for itself the first time you use it. As for my dizzys, they were way out of adjustment due to wear (documented here) and it took a bit of work to get back to spec (grinding, shimming), but man, what a difference. Image Unavailable, Please Login
These images are from Norwood performance site: http://www.norwoodperformance.com/engine_electronics.htm Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have a dual distributor setup, but I altered one distributor by moving the second set of points around from 180 degrees, to 135 degrees and use the second set to fire the other bank. This virtually converts it to a single distributor just like a euro car, so each set of points is for one bank. I still have both distributors, only the other one is gutted and simply has the rotor for spark distribution. The car runs a great deal smoother as both banks now share one common advance mechanism. My next project is to duplicate this on the other distributor, set it up and time it to run, and have one on standby for redundancy where I can just from one to the other. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have to go with Seamus and Mike! I have had no problems. Jim your is running good I would only worry about them after a year or two if then. I know a guy who rebuilds the sun machines they are not cheap but like new (see picture)! I have not spent as much time as Mike has on mine but they are running good. Hell I set them up with a feeler gauge and they ran great for 10 years! I would check the timing if the car starts running rough, the grease in my rear bank distributor was so old it froze up. After taking mine apart I found they were hotrodded by some previous mechanic. I have another set and I am going to try to go to a stock set up to see what it does soon! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'll bet there are some on this chat that would get more pleasure playing those Sun machines than the pinball ones Gerrit
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3ASS%3AUS%3A1&viewitem=&item=140125003005
Looks like a wonderful device. I had to get up a lot of gumption to work on my car. I don't think I have enough left to work on a distributor machine to then work on the distributors for my car . Seamus
