1974 365 GT4 2+2 Hi everybody. Searched before asking this but couldn't find an answer...probably because I don't know the correct terminology. As part of my engine rehab I want to remove (what I call) the distributor angle drives. The aluminum castings at the rear of each cylinder head. I'm a bit apprehensive. What am I looking at? Is this straightforward? Or (and here's what I'm worried about) will I go to remove them and have drive couplers, bearings, widgets, etc falling onto the ground? Any advice (or warnings, or encouragement) appreciated. I don't want a mess on my hands. It's said that God hates a coward.... but I doubt that he's fond of people who do dumb things, either Cheers and thanks Doug Image Unavailable, Please Login
Should be a straightforward job. Have not done it on a 365 but on 250 and took a look at the 365 2+2 parts drawing. All bearings, etc. are secured by a seeger ring. The angle drive (I would call them the same) Outlets are stuck on the camshaft and are secured only by the screws you see on the outside.
Speaking of distributors.... I have both distributors on my desk. One distributor has two sets of breaker points. As I expected. Unbelievably (to me) the other distributor has only one set of points. More specifically, it has one complete functioning set of points and one half set of points, with the stationary half being in place but the moving half simply nowhere to be seen. Excuse my profound ignorance in asking but....um....er.....I must clarify. Both distributors are supposed to have two functioning sets of breaker points, right? I think I may just discovered why the engine ran so poorly and the car has been sitting undriven for so many years Cheers DD
Dont know about the 365 in detail, but this sounds very wrong to me. With the MM85 distributors on the 250 there are two sets of contact breakers each contact breaker giving spark for 3 cylinders... therefor your discovery would mean it was only firing on 9 cylinders.
Good day Douglas, According to the shop docs, yup, 2 functioning set's of points are what the system was designed for. That being said, I suppose one could modify the system appropriately to not use 2 sets of points... but that does not appear the be the case here. Attached is a page from the C4 shop doc that shows the dual point setup which I believe is very similar to the 365 GT4 2+2. Although I have had my GT4 for several years now, I have yet to to get to the ignition system... or drive it for that matter. Cheers, Sam
Most important question is: does it have a 3-lobe cam or a 6-lobe cam inside the distributor. If it has a 6 lobe cam the second set of points are in there for emission related reasons (it switches between the points between idle and of-idle by a microswitch and retards the ignition timing) If the distributor has a 3 lobe cam, there is definately something wrong if one of the points is missing.
Six lobe. Still, something is amiss. The functional/complete set of points is wired to the condenser on the outside of the distributor....and nothing else. The half-set....where only the stationary half is in place....was wired to the coil. Naturally, the coil couldn't have been operational and thus the engine was running on just 6 cylinders. In a way this comes as no surprise. Odd colored wires and 10-cent butt connectors are an immediate clue that others have been there before ! I've not discovered a microswitch, however. (I'm reminded of an episode from decades ago. I bought an MG that sat in a shed for years. It wouldn't run after "somebody" replaced the points. Several shops gave up. Long story short, an insulating eyelet was installed on the wrong side of a wire. I was stumped as well...until a 2:00AM leap-out-of-bed epiphany hit me. Flipped the eyelet location and she roared to life!) Cheers and thanks DD
I'm in the middle of removing my distributors. Do the angle drives and distributor just need some tapping/persuasion after removing the bolts/nuts? I have all fasteners off but the distributor/angle drive assembly does not seem to want to slide off the rear of the cylinder head.
It's been over two years for me .... and my memory ain't that great. Removing the distributors from the angle drives just required a gentle twist. I recall just wriggling the angle drives off the cylinder heads after all the fasteners were removed. On both left and right sides one of the hold-down nuts is partially obscured from view so it would be easy to overlook. I also wonder if someone before you might have added a sealer of some sort...which has sort of glued the angle drives in place. Wiggling the drive.....the shaft that the distributor engages... might help the gears disengage. If you're sure you've removed all the nuts I don't see the harm of a few light taps. Let's hear what others have to say. I'm no authority. I'm amazed that I put it all back together and it actually started ! Cheers DD
Thanks Doug. I have the passenger side off. It's a tight fit on the splined connection to the camshaft but finally wiggled free. The drivers side may be more of a challenge. All bolts/nuts are off but I've noticed that the throttle shaft from the accelerator pedal is right behind it. Looks like the shaft will have to come out for the distributor to be able to slide back. These Ferrari's are remarkably poorly designed!
I forgot about that throttle shaft. I recall it being easy to remove; there's a support pedestal that unbolts fairly easily as I recall. The shaft then flops out of the way. As for poor engineering, well.....I'm accustomed to working on V12 Jags so this Ferrari doesn't seem too bad in terms of repair difficulty, access to components, etc. I'd hate to work on either in an environment where I was rushed. Cheers DD
