distributor rebuild question

[BarryK]

Hi all

my '65 coupe has the 327/365 sb motor.

is anyone familiar with the Breakerless SE Electronic Ignition Conversion kit offered by Lectric Limited.
It seems to be pretty good. $159.00 and converts the distributor to electronic and still retains a stock appearance with the cap installed so it will even still fir under the shielding.
Also, according to my mechanic, with the electronic conversion, I don't haveto be as concerned with worn bushings causing shaft wobble as I would be if the distributor was stock with standard points and condenser as it only concerns itself with the rotation of the shaft where the stock set-up would allow the timing curve to get thrown off by any wobble in the shaft.

I know my bushing are somewhat worn and the original plan was to pull the distributor and rebuild it stock but now my mechanic thinks this method my be a little better of an idea and he said it would save about half the labor rate because he wouldn't have to pull and spend about 2 hours on the distributor alone, before even doing the timing. The conversion kits installs in about 15 minutes.
This is the same kit that is advertised in the latest NCRS Driveline (issue 157 May-June) on page 42.

I know nothing at all about this stuff so any opinions are greatly appreaciated.

Thanks!

Barry

 

[JohnZ]

If your bushings are worn, they should be replaced regardless whether you use points or a conversion; the tension of the point spring isn't what wears the upper bushing - lack of lubrication is what kills it, as most people pay no attention to their distributor at all, and the lube that Delco installed in the sealed upper bushing grease well dried up about 20 years ago.

With the shaft end play properly shimmed (.002"-.010"), a breaker plate that doesn't wobble and moves freely, and a good set of high-spring tension points (like Accel or Borg-Warner A112HP or "Standard" DR2270P), that Delco distributor will let it howl to 6500 all day long.

All the conversion does is eliminate changing the points every year or two; if that's worth $159.00 to you, go for it.

 

[6T5RUSH]

BarryK,

Boy, timing is everything. Regardless if you spend the conversion money or not, your distributor will function much improved if you do the rebuild.

I just finished totally dismantling my distributor and re-shimming her (had too much end play). I was just a little initimidated by attempting this but JohnZ, Allcoupedup and Ctjackster encouraged me to plunge. Wasn't too bad. You can do this. LICS has all the parts and from order day to at your doorstep is 2 days!. Did use the exploded view of the distributor shown in LICS catalogue as a guide to "what goes where". I didn't need new bushings, just shims. Most local auto machine shops can press out the old and put in the new bushings. Like JohnZ said the crud in the oil well underneath the advance plate was ugly. Take digital pics of the before, during and after. A great help. Wasn't that bad. Just lay out an old light colored towel for the dismantle. I have a small parts washer with mineral spirits that cleaned everything up real quick. Oh, I did this and I have the Pertronix conversion (had it since 2002). No issues.

Good luck!

Jim

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

I converted my '66 to the Pertronix Ignitor II breakerless ignition system about 2 months ago. I pulled the distributor to check the end play and found it to be excessive so I shimmed it up with the shims provided in the Ignitor II set up. You can see what this stuff looks like at Pertronix.com, look for Ignitor II. I'd recommend you have the distributor professionally rebuilt including the installation of the conversion kit of your choice given that you seem reluctant to do the work yourself. And just in case you don't know, you can't just disconnect the wires and pull the distributor out without knowing the procedure for getting it back in properly. If you want it to start again you need to get it back in so that the rotor is positioned where it is supposed to be. Miss by one tooth and all hell can break loose. After the rebuild and conversion you'll be all set and you'll know what you've got. Besides, you named her BABY so now you have to baby her! I'd wait until next winter to do this if it's going to mean any substantial down time scheduling it with your mechanic. Start that "things to do" list now! In the meantime..

 

[BarryK]

Terry

I have NO intention of doing the work myself. I accept my complete lack of knoweldge and experience on working on these cars so I sure don't want to start with BABY - I love her too much to subject her to my incompetence.
LOL
As for the downtime for the work on the distributor, my mechanic told me if he pulls the distributor and rebuilds it back to stock (with a conversion kit) plus adjusting the timing afterwards and than readjusting the carb I'm looking at about 4-6 hours total labor. Thats mostly from the distributor rebuild.
We discussed the electronic conversion because he said the worn bushings that cause some shaft wobble wouldn't affect performance that way like it does if it was left stock and total labor for the electronic conversion, timing, and carb setting would only be approx 2 hours. We both figured I was ahead of the game in labor rates by not having to have the distributor pulled.
Of course, once John Z responded i'm starting to lean back to just going the stock method and having the distributor pulled and having it done correctly. Who am I to question the expertise of an expert like john Z??!!

Of course I may have the distibutor pulled to replace the worn bushings PLUS do the electronic conversion. When you added your conversion did you see any actually performance, reliabilty, starting, running, etc, improvements?

Barry

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,


I saw no difference after the conversion in any of the categories you asked about as the car was in tip top shape. However, in the category of "confidence in the car" there was a major improvement.

 

[ctjackster]

actually, it is BECAUSE I consider my 65 to be my "Baby" (I don't have a name for the car, however) that I do as much of the work myself as possible - not only is it satisfying, but, together with a good search here and on the other forums, I can be armed with waaay more info on how to do a certain task properly and up to the correct specs, correct orientation of things, etc. than even my most trusted mechanic, unless he is on these forums too, and none are. I have seen on my own car how the work of earlier well-intentioned mechanics was done.

 

[allcoupedup]

SAT question:

installing breakerless ignition : worn distributor bushings is similar to


1. valve guide knurling : worn valve guides
2. use of flexible tubing : leaky exhaust system
3. 160 degree thermostat : overheating
4. use of spacers on the rear leaf spring : sagging rear end
5. all of the above


yeah, I'm bored.
brian

 

[BarryK]

Ok, ok John Z, allcoupedup, etc, I get the idea!
I'll do the job properly instead of trying to save a few bucks (hey, I was trying to be frugal as I was just layed off work). I'll have the distributor pulled and get the bushings replaced. Might as well replace the lower gear as well i suppose.......
any other very important parts I need to order. I know I also need to get a correct set of springs and weights as the ones on the distributor now are incorrect.

Barry

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

I doubt that the lower gear is worn. How's your tach working? Is it quiet? You may want to ask about the driven gear and cable coupling as your tachometer is a mechanical tach driven by a gear on the main shaft of the distributor. If you are rebuilding have them check all of those gears. The gear on the main shaft is not replacable so you'd need to buy the shaft if it's bad. Long Island Corvette has a nice blow up of a distributor at this address. Check it out, it's a good place to become familiar with the innards of a distributor. Click below
http://www.licorvette.com/pdfcatalogfiles/cat22/48.pdf

:dance :dance :dance

 

[BarryK]

Terry

my tach works fine although it bounces a little bit at times but not too bad.
I thought I read somewhere that as long as you are replacing the bushings you might as well replace the lower gear.
Now I don't know what to order or not to order. I do have the blow-up from LICS but without having the knowledge I don't know what to order to have my mechanic do the work!
Obviously I want to be sure to get all the necessary parts I DO need without wasting money on parts I don't.

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

Unless you are going to do a 100% rebuild at a shop that has 100% of the parts in stock it's best to have the mechanic disassemble the distributor and determine just what parts he needs. If you try to anticipate what you'll need you will for sure buy things you don't need and pass on that one thing that he says you absolutely have to have, it's Murphy's law. Of course that means tying the car up for a few days. I can tell you that LI Corvette will take parts back with no restocking charge if you return them promptly so if you do order any unnecessary's you can get the money back but the freight and hassle of shipping them back is on you. I'm sticking with my story, make it a winter project if the car is running good.

 

[Miami Stingray]

Barry,

I had Lars Grimsrud rebuild my stock distributor. What a difference it made in my overall engine performance. He had it back to me in less than 2 weeks. The price was great. Lars email is V8FastCars@msn.com

Good luck, Lou

 

[BarryK]

Barry,

Unless you are going to do a 100% rebuild at a shop that has 100% of the parts in stock it's best to have the mechanic disassemble the distributor and determine just what parts he needs. If you try to anticipate what you'll need you will for sure buy things you don't need and pass on that one thing that he says you absolutely have to have, it's Murphy's law. Of course that means tying the car up for a few days. I can tell you that LI Corvette will take parts back with no restocking charge if you return them promptly so if you do order any unnecessary's you can get the money back but the freight and hassle of shipping them back is on you. I'm sticking with my story, make it a winter project if the car is running good.

Terry

I have a guy up on Rt 202 across from the library who is very good and I trust him working on the car but he doesn't have all the proper parts in stock which is why he suggesed I order up the parts and than he would do the work for me in a few hours while I waited on the car. I undertand your point about having it done as a winter project but although the car runs 'ok" it's not perfect, especially at the top end. I rarely push the motor hard enough to see the problems at the top end but the distributor/timing problems are enough that i'm losing 1000-1500 rpms at the top range. The car will rev to 5900-6000 rpm than just stop and go no more. worst, because of the distrbutor issues we can't get the dwell and timing set correctly so to compensate we have to have the idle set a bit higher than normal or she stalls without constantly "goosing" the gas. I COULD live with it the way it is currently but just really prefer to try to make it correct since i'm driving the car.
I wouldn't mind a current downtime at his shop for 2 or 3 days but not 2 weeks right now in case anything was backordered after we pulled the distributor. I guess the car being new to me, I just have too many shows and events I'm excited about going to and participating in.......
what to do, what to do???
LOL