Here is the assembly part of the reconditioning.

DZVette was kind enough to edit some of the pictures and to put it into a PDF format.
If anyone wants a copy either contact me or DZ.



After cleaning, inspecting and collecting all the necessary parts I start the assembly process.

I use cotton in the well and some people use gauze. I first put some oil in the well first and then the cotton.


I then soak the cotton with more oil.


I then put on the plastic retainer.


Install the felt washer and apply oil to it.


Check to make sure the ground wire is firmly attached and the wire and terminal is in good condition


I check for excessive play between the vacuum advance rod and the hole in the breaker plate


If there is too much play I gently tap the raised portion of the hole until the rod fits snug but still moves freely.



Install the primary lead and grommet.


Here is the screw holder I use on the screws in the distributor.



Install the screw closest to the rod first.



Put some oil on the outside of the bushing and a drop on the vacuum advance rod and install the breaker plate and wave retainer.


Install the other vacuum advance hold down screw making sure the hole in the terminal goes over the raised nub on the chamber.
Using a vacuum pump, which will move the breaker plate out of the way, will make it easier to install the screw.


At this point I install the condenser and points. Make sure the points sit flat on the breaker plate, notice the small nub on the plate that goes into the hole in the point set.
Note the small piece of folded paper between the points. This keeps the rubbing block away from the cam when I install the shaft and cam.


Make sure the two terminals are installed as seen in the photo. Notice the crimps are facing in opposite directions.


Install the cam plate with the bushing on the pin. I use light grease on the shaft as shown. DO NOT use white grease as I have seen it harden over time.


This bushing came with the new shaft but as you can see it is much too large. After running it up on my machine I removed it to get more timing advance.


Inspect the area in the distributor where the cross shaft rides for excessive damage, if it is damaged it will have to be machined and a bushing installed. This one used a nylon bushing which I replaced.

Before I install the shaft I check the cross gear end play. From my research I determined that up to .040 is acceptable.




If everything is good, oil the shaft and install it in the distributor.

Install the lower gear and check the end play. I use a 3/16" drill bit so I do not have to drive the roll pin in and out. I shoot for .007" to .010" play.


Once the end play has been set install the lower gear with the dimple aligned with the rotor tip.
The yellow mark on the gear is where the dimple is.


Grease the cross gear and install the shaft, with the shim, in the disrtibutor.


I apply a little oil to the weight pivot pins and the pads that the weights ride on.
Every time I remove the distributor cap from any of my cars I always add a drop to the pivots.
This was standard procedure when I was tuning cars for a living.



Here is a typical weight/spring kit.


For this distributor I used a light and heavy spring.


Here is the distributor ready to be run up on the machine.


Here is the distributor spinning a 3000 RPM and the centrifugal advance is all in at 13 degrees distributor, which is 26 degrees crank. If the initial is set at 10 degrees that gives you a total centrifugal of 36 degrees.


Here I have applied vacuum to the advance and now there is a total distributor advance, centrifugal and vacuum, of 22 distributor degrees which is 44 crankshaft degrees, add 10 degrees initial and you have 54 total timing at 3000 RPM.


There have been many papers and threads explaining mapping a curve so I will not go into it here. People such as Lars, Duke and John Z. have more knowledge on the subject then me and have done a great job at documenting it. My intention was to give a basic procedure on disassembly and reassembly of a distributor.

Joe

 

Doing it right the first time. Dennis

 

TTT, added the rest of the assembly pictures and procedure.
Joe

 

Thank you, Joe, for taking the time and effort to post this...very explanatory, detailed and helpful

 

With Joe's "good graces", I have attached the PDF file that he
and I worked up regarding reconditioning the tach-drive distributor.

Download the file into your "how to" collection.

Thanks Joe!

Dave Z

 

Do you guys have any instructional material on how to remove and replace the bushings? There is a photo in this tutorial of the broken bushing but I don’t see anything else on that.
I know this thread is really old but it’s so good!