Well, finally I got the origional cap off. I had to return home to CT because I bought a set of nut drivers at sears, but they wouldnt get the screws off. I needed my 5.5mm socket.

Here are some pics of the surprise I found inside. Even if my IGN module is still good, I cant blame the car for running bad after this. Notice that big pile of white something on the dizzy base. I have no idea.

Also, that rusty metal thing that the rotor sits on. Is it normally rusty? And also, if I grab the rotor by hand and try to turn it, that whole rusty thing has about 1/16" of play where I can turn the rotor. Is that normal?

 

that little play in the shaft is ok but the rusty stuff is not.

 

I had the same thing. the ash is normal for completly worn cap and rotors. just clean out the ash and put on a new cap and rotor. It looks like you got some moisture under there and that was the cause. i bet it ran really bad!

the rust is most likely because moisture got down in there. i have the same thing, i don't think it does any harm.

 

I really wanna know how water gets in there now. I figured it had a crack in the cap, but no. It was sealed tight.

Also, what would be the best cap and rotor. Accel, Borg Warner, or Duralast Gold?

Finally, are borg warner ign modules any good? I cant afford delco.

 

Looks like a road salt attack. (oh wait, I see you're in the "rust-belt")
If it has 1/16" side-to-side motion I would suggest replacing the distributor.
It's going to get worse in a hurry.
If it has 1/16" up and down, that's ok.

 

Well, the car was never winter driven so that is odd. Always garaged according to the previous owner (and the bottom of the car is rust free).

Also, I think I need a new distributor anyway. What happened was, if you notice from the pics, the little screws that hold down the cap, they sheared when I was taking the cap off. We tried to twist them out of the base with penetrating oil, heat, and vice-grips. Then they just twisted off completely flush with the base, and we cant drill them out.

Autozone wants 100 for a reman dizzy. What do you think?

 

Alright. More problems. It is impossible to get the distributor out. There is no way any wrench I have (even my dizzy wrench) can get it loose. It is factory tight.

So, I need to think of ways to improvise. If I get a new cap, what can I do to get it to stay on? Rubber Bands, maybe?

Also, would a clamp-on cap from a different engine be able to clamp on to my screw down base? I just need this thing to run again as reliable transportation. What cars might have come with the clamp-down cap?

 

You can pull the dist. The hold down bolt looks clean, you may just have to move something in order to get a grip on it. You're not going to get a cap back on that one without pulling those broken screws.

The reman dist from AZ should come with a new module (however not AC Delco). It won't come with a cap or rotor. A standard cap/rotor will work fine or you can spend 25-30 for a set with brass contacts.

 

Well, I got the car running again. I put the old cap back on, and used 2 rubber bands around the base to hold it tight. Just Kidding.

My buddy came over, and he helped me get the bolt loose. He is real strong, and it barely moved for him. We had to disconnect the throttle brackets to get an open end on it.

I went to autozone and got the reman dizzy. It came with the a new module, but not delco. The whole unit is made by "cardone" I think. I dont care, it is real nice. The points arent rusty, and the cap fits perfectly. And I saved my old delco module.

I got the Duralast Gold Cap and Rotor with the brass contacts. It is nice.

I put it all back together by eyeballing it lol. I stuck the new rotor on the new dizzy, and dropped it in so that it pointed the way the old one did. Then, put the cap on, and put it generally the way the old one was.

Started the motor, barely ran, about 10* retarded. Advanced timing to 0*, tightened the bolt, now the car runs 10 times better. Now I just have to wait and see if it will run in the rain.

Thanks for the help everybody. Appreciate it.

 

Glad you fixed it!

 

Well, it was alot more money than I wanted to spend. But I need the car to be reliable.

Another thing I noticed, on the new dizzy was that when a set of points lines up, the shaft kinda stops turning like magnetic. That didnt happen on the old one.

 

'Another thing I noticed, on the new dizzy was that when a set of points lines up, the shaft kinda stops turning like magnetic. That didnt happen on the old one.'

That's normal. The old one used to do the same the shaft probably just doesn't turn as freely now and you don't notice it.

 

accel is the best cap/rotor. Any cap that has brass contacts is good, the delco replacement one sucks.

 

Well, today I went to autozone, and got a new thermostat. I was tired of not having heat. So, when he typed it into the computer they had a bunch of different ones come up. I ended up getting the 180* duralast one. So, I put that in and also decided to try some timing advance with my new distributor. I gave it about 6 degrees.

Holy ****. The car warms right up now, and right where I wanted the temp guage to stay. And, it pulls better, and that bog at 1/2 throttle is gone. Overall, it runs smoother too. Finally, the idle is back down to like 500-600 RPM. After the new dizzy, it was idling at about 800 RPM, but now it idles nice and low.

However, there is a pretty bad antifreeze leak I cant find. Probably knocked something loose when I was working in there. I park on a down-hill at night, so it was dripping on the passenger valve cover, running down that towards the front of the motor, then dripping onto the ground. I cannot figure out where it is dripping onto the valvle cover from, though. And, it lift a 1 foot round puddle overnight.

 

check the heater hose and everything it connects to. it runs over the passenger side valve cover area.