DaveS
09-03-2017, 04:23 PM
Having seen many distributor replacements around 2010 go bad (sheared distributor drive gears), I was VERY reluctant to replace my distributor. Since I witnessed several Cardone replacements go bad, I decided to locate and have a rebuilder rebuild my distributor. I located Tom Lamano, a rebuilder in Pennsylvania, and arranged to have him rebuild my distributor.
When I received my distributor back from Tom, it looked great! Nice and smooth, minimal end play, .009 inches…just what you’d want in a distributor.
I decided to do some investigation on clearances and tolerances on the distributor drive system and this is what I found: Auxiliary Shaft end play, .001 to .007; Auxiliary Shaft bearing clearance to shaft, .0006 to .0026. As much as I tried, I could not find a specification for the distributor end play. I located somebody who had a NOS distributor, and they informed me the end play on that distributor was .055. The only other specification I could find was on Cardone’s website, and they stated after installation, there should be .015 to .030 end play.
So now I start the install. The first thing I do is remove the timing belt so I can see how much effort it takes to turn the auxiliary shaft, distributor, and oil pump. I put some assembly lube on the auxiliary shaft drive gear and the distributor driven gear and prime the oil pump. I take my distributor with .009 end play and install it. When tightened, it is locked up and won’t spin at all. I call Tom and he advises me on what he thinks should be done, and that is to remove a shim. That first shim was about .030 in thickness which would result in a .039 end play in the distributor before installation. I remove the shim and proceed to install the distributor. Once installed, it didn’t meet the .015-.030 specification so I proceed to remove the second shim. Once both shims are removed, the endplay, before installation, is .070 and after installation and torqueing of the dizzy bolt is .023 inches, within the Cardone specification. Once the distributor is installed, I’m amazed at how much effort it takes to turn the auxiliary shaft by hand. Even though I’m within the Cardone spec, I’m a bit worried.
I reinstall the timing belt, set timing (and magnet seen/not seen for my SDS) and let the engine run between idle and 2000RPM for about 15 minutes. I take it on a test drive (with cell phone) and no issues. I do several of these gentle test drives and all looks good.
Several weeks go by and I decide to push the car a bit harder. Today several highly-spirited runs to 6000RPM under strong boost as part of a 30-minute drive and all looks good. I add 4 ounces Seafoam to the crankcase and run it for about 10 minutes and then do an oil change (Castrol Syntec 10w30, Zinc additive, Motorcraft FL-1A filter) and all looks good.
Only time will tell if this IS going to be a one-time distributor change, but so far it looks good. I just wanted to share my experience with others who may be as apprehensive as I was about changing their distributor.
When I received my distributor back from Tom, it looked great! Nice and smooth, minimal end play, .009 inches…just what you’d want in a distributor.
I decided to do some investigation on clearances and tolerances on the distributor drive system and this is what I found: Auxiliary Shaft end play, .001 to .007; Auxiliary Shaft bearing clearance to shaft, .0006 to .0026. As much as I tried, I could not find a specification for the distributor end play. I located somebody who had a NOS distributor, and they informed me the end play on that distributor was .055. The only other specification I could find was on Cardone’s website, and they stated after installation, there should be .015 to .030 end play.
So now I start the install. The first thing I do is remove the timing belt so I can see how much effort it takes to turn the auxiliary shaft, distributor, and oil pump. I put some assembly lube on the auxiliary shaft drive gear and the distributor driven gear and prime the oil pump. I take my distributor with .009 end play and install it. When tightened, it is locked up and won’t spin at all. I call Tom and he advises me on what he thinks should be done, and that is to remove a shim. That first shim was about .030 in thickness which would result in a .039 end play in the distributor before installation. I remove the shim and proceed to install the distributor. Once installed, it didn’t meet the .015-.030 specification so I proceed to remove the second shim. Once both shims are removed, the endplay, before installation, is .070 and after installation and torqueing of the dizzy bolt is .023 inches, within the Cardone specification. Once the distributor is installed, I’m amazed at how much effort it takes to turn the auxiliary shaft by hand. Even though I’m within the Cardone spec, I’m a bit worried.
I reinstall the timing belt, set timing (and magnet seen/not seen for my SDS) and let the engine run between idle and 2000RPM for about 15 minutes. I take it on a test drive (with cell phone) and no issues. I do several of these gentle test drives and all looks good.
Several weeks go by and I decide to push the car a bit harder. Today several highly-spirited runs to 6000RPM under strong boost as part of a 30-minute drive and all looks good. I add 4 ounces Seafoam to the crankcase and run it for about 10 minutes and then do an oil change (Castrol Syntec 10w30, Zinc additive, Motorcraft FL-1A filter) and all looks good.
Only time will tell if this IS going to be a one-time distributor change, but so far it looks good. I just wanted to share my experience with others who may be as apprehensive as I was about changing their distributor.