2 Questions:

1) What is the target end play for the 87 Hei main shaft? Mine is currently .053". Opinions vary on this... some say leave it at .053". Some say .010", some say .015".

In the past, on C2/C3 points distributors I always shot for .010".

2) In a C2/C3 points distributor, the upper shaft bushing has a passage in it to allow the packed grease under the plastic seal and felt washer to ooze onto the shaft.

In the 87 Hei unit I am working on, their is no such passage. Yet, everywhere I read it still says to pack the void in the distributor housing with hi temp grease and install the felt washer and plastic seal.

In both cases, I come up with GM/ACDelco 1950569 for the plastic seal and Standard Motor Parts #DG-53, Echlin DP110 for the felt washer.

Note: The aftermarket kits contain a "flat" plastic seal whereas the GM part is "cup" shaped for better retention in the housing... like an expansion plug.

When I disassembled the 87 Hei unit, there was indeed dried out saw-dusty grease in the cavity, but no plastic seal or felt washer.

The C2/C3 warrants the grease due to the upper shaft bushing passage.

The 87 upper shaft bushing has no such passage and thus it seems no way for the grease to get to the shaft. Sooooo... why am I packing this Hei unit with grease and installing the felt washer & plastic seal?

 

The HEI was changed in '85 I believe and the seal # you reference isn't listed. I don't know that any of the assembly procedures by most ever reflected the change. The last reference to that seal is for the cross-fire HEI in '84.

Here's an internal parts chart for an '87 TPI from the later SPO publication:

 

From the later '92 SPO with image:

 

The "static" (distributor not on the engine) end play doesn't matter and is meaningless. When the engine is running the cam gear pushes the distributor gear up against the bottom of the distributor housing and the endplay effectively becomes zero.

 

Thanks for the info. What still confuses me is that the earlier tach drive distributors had some kind of funky grease/sawdust mixture in the housing under the seal and washer. This 87 HEI distributor had neither the seal nor the washer, but the housing was still packed with that same funky grease. I'm gonna guess that somebody was in there and added the grease because grandpa told them to do it. No other clue why it's there. I'll put it back together now and just forget about the grease.

 

My '86 did not have any grease like you describe. I bought it new in 1985, so that's the way it came from the factory.

 

When I got my new DUI distributor it had close to .035 end play...I shimmed it to have .015 end play, but like Cliff said , all the end play is eliminated when the distributor spins...The reason guys shim their distributors is for something called "spark scatter" , shimming is suppose to help eliminate this...It's better to have to much end play then to over shim and have a situation where the dizzy gear is bottomed out, and if you don't know how to properly shim and check the distributor this can happen..........WW
.
.
.
.