PROJECT 51: The Distributor Saga. I thought I was just going to have to clean the grime off the distributor, and set it aside until I reassembled the engine. Then I discovered that Brutus-the-Mechanic had been there before me.
While twisting on the shaft to check the centrifugal-spark-advance mechanism in the top end of the distributor, I noticed that the drive gear at the bottom had some play in it. It wiggled about 3-degrees back and forth. It's supposed to fit perfectly tight on the shaft, otherwise the ignition timing will "float."
Apparently, Brutus had driven out the factory roll-pin—and lost it. So, he decided to replace it with a solid pin (which I think he made out of a 10-penny nail). See the photo of what would be the correct pin and the Brutus pin. You can see that his new pin was too big, so he drilled out the hole, and then peened the end of the pin because it was too loose (causing the float). And judging by the angle of his re-drilled hole, there must have been several beers consumed that night.
He also lost the spring-steel shim-washer that keeps the steel gear from riding against the aluminum housing.
Fortunately, I could buy a new washer, and I had a metric-size roll-pin that fit the odd size hole that he drilled. The distributor is now back together with a new (Christmas gift) cap and is ready for assembly to the engine.
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| Before |
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| Before. Note that the condenser is soldered in place! Apparently Lucas didn't expect them to fail very often. |
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| Brutus's peened replacement pin.Grind marks are probably from needing to shorten the too-long pin after peening. |
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| Angle of Brutus-drilled hole. |
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| Brutus-pin on left, and what would have been the correct pin on the right. |
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| Shown with missing shim-washer in place. |
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| Ready for installation. |
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