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Spitfire Spit Distributor Questions

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chappy444

Senior Member
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well...I finally broke down and yanked the distributor out of the car last night (Delco D204)because I noticed a scraping noise coming from it and I also noticed that the rotor seemed to be firing from the top of the tab, not the end. I have multiple questions that are posted after the pics.
DistDiag.jpg

SpitDistributor11.jpg

SpitDistributor12.jpg

SpitDistributor10.jpg


my questions are:
1. what is the size of the "washer"? Part #17 in the diagram. as you can see in the last pic...mine is shot.
2. can it be made of something besides metal? i have a block of teflon here at work that i may be able to fabricate a washer from.
3. how much oil do you put down the hole in the top plate? and will putting oil there help this problem from happening again? seems like a poor design if this washer is the only thing holding up the shaft.
4. what kind of greese do i pack in the tach drive gear?
5. anyone have a gently used vac advance can and top plate for sale (parts 12 and 18) that would fit this distributor?
thanks,
Bill
 
I have no specific measurements on that particular washer. However, based on what Lucas distributors do, the thickness of that washer would be controlled to give about 0.003" to 0.005" of gap between the drive dog (very bottom most part in the the exploded drawing above) and the bottom of the dizzy housing. You should be able to determine the thickness needed by cleaning up the surfaces, putting the dizzy back together and measuring the gap between the dog and the dizzy body. Take that and subtract 0.003" and you will have your thickness.

Teflon would work for a while but it is likely to "mush" over time. Teflon flows under load. I would consider polishing up the scored surfaces and making the washer out of brass (or better yet) bronze. If you are lucky, you may find that the thickness needed is close to a size available in sintered bronze from McMaster-Carr.
 
Bill,

I sent my delco dizzy to Advanced Distributors and had it completely overhauled.

Best $135 plus shipping I ever spent. Jeff did a complete rebuild with bushings
fixed my point plate and fixed and recurved my mechanical advance.

2 years later and 5,000 miles later and still haven't needed to adjust the points.


not sure if the Delco ever had an advance. I have the vac retard plugged and car runs fine.
 
70herald said:
:iagree:

Just send it to Jeff! I think this is the unanimous opinion around here. It will come back better than new.
Click to expand...

email and pics sent to Jeff. hoping i could get a quick fix going to get me through driving season so i can finish the shakedown. i am makeing my list for winter projects.....

may have to bite the bullet on this one...

thanks again for all the help.
Bill
 
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