In a few weeks, I'll be taking apart the intake on my car to upgrade the base manifold.

I'm in the process of completely overhauling this car with reliability in mind and figured while I had the distributor out, why not inspect It's current condition.

I will be upgrading the ignition module to a streetfire ignition box but am curious as to what else I should look for/replace on the distributor to make sure It's operating in top shape and for preventive maintenance.

 

BUMP

Also some additional Info:

The distributor already has a new(ish) cap, rotor, brand new coil and a properly functioning JEGS ignition module (Gonna ride this one out until I change to an ignition box).

So from what I've gathered all I need to replace is the pickup coil and the distributor gear. It's going to be more cost effective to make sure this one is in top shape vs buying a new one.

The only questions I have at this point are I have seen people mention something about the distributor shaft bushings and slack that can develop in the gear from age. Also, there is a capacitor looking piece in the distributor down around the ignition module area. Is this part of the pickup? I really didn't take a good luck at it. What to do here, guys?

 

Check for play at the rotor, it should not wobble any back and forth. If it's tight there clean it up and replace the pick up coil. If there's play in the shaft, you can pick up a reman for around $90.

 

I remove the shaft, do a very thorough cleaning and reassemble with distributor gear shims to take out any slop, and replace the heat-sink grease.
You can also add a small groove to feed additional oil to the gear.

 

Nat, are you referring to being able to turn the rotor back and forth? Because I always wondered why my rotor was able to do this by about half an inch. The motor runs like a champ though do I never really thought anything of it.

305, how do create this oil hole?

 

The rotor will turn back and forth some but you'll notice it will lift as it turns. This is allowed by how the helical gears engage. It is not a problem when the engine is running because the force on the gears pulls the rotor down and keeps it in place. It can, however, be shimmed to eliminate some of this but it's not usually necessary. Some play is required to maintain clearances as temps change.

Shaft play will be a noticeable wobble back and forth, normal to the axis of rotation. Play in this direction can allow the rotor to strike the contacts on the cap at worse, or change the rotor/cap gap as the dist spins and affect timing.

 

good to know. my rotor does not have this type of play.

Now let me ask you this. Chandler motorsports has new HEI electronic ignition distributors going for $55 but they are of the external coil type. can I purchase one of these, grab a different pickup coil and swap everything else over or is the distributor itself different?

 

The small caps can be retrofitted but you'll have to change the wiring pigtails for the ICM and coil/tach. The ICM has one extra pin, but it's a dedicated ground.

I've never done it myself though. The large cap is a pretty stout piece. I've read that they only switched to provide more clearance around the dist.

 

I'm talking sort of a "hybrid" distributor.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/87-95-chevy-...69312997313411

can I take that distributor, remove everything above the shaft and swap over all the cap and rotor guts from my in coil cap dizzy including the pickup or will that not work?

I guess what I'm asking is, the two distributors themselves (Distributor shaft) excluding all the cap and rotor kits, are they the same?

 

No. The small cap has a different base.

 

hmmm. does anyone know where I can get a large cap style base? JUST the base. I'm having a hard time finding them.

I really don't feel that paying $130 to advance auto for a crappy cardone reman is a fair deal.

 

Under $100 at AZ? The remans should also come with a new ICM, though no cap/rotor.

 

just got off the phone with autozone. theirs is $133 for the cardone. exact same one we sell at advance for the exact same price.

the accel units will plug up fine and are cheaper but they're all vacuum advance.

for some reason the larger cap style seems difficult to find for electronic advance.

 

Cheaper here.

 

Crap...

 

If I were to buy a coil in cap HEI dizzy with vacuum advance, can the vacuum advance part be removed in favor of a 7 pin module or is it one piece with the base?