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Hi all, in the 1970 & 80s the Vauxhalls with Delco Distributors ( you know the ones with our points ) used to nearly all have a worn out Distributors. We used to get round this by setting the points at 10 thou
And then they ran OK. Done thousands ! Doddy.
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On 13 Sep 2020, at 19:20, Ian Potts <gillandianp@tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
Dear All,
Discovered an easy way of testing if your distributor needs to go to the Doctor. Remove rotor arm and turn engine until points are open. Wiggle the top of the distributor shaft while looking at the points gap. If you have, say, 5 thou shaft wear this will equate to around 10 thou at the points and is easily seen as it is around half the points gap. Needless to say, both my distributors are now off to the Doctor!
Attached photo shows how I measure the advance curve. The distributor is driven at 8 different speeds by the lathe - a microprocessor linked to two infra-red pickups on the distributor measures both speed and advance. I don't like to do this in-car with a pre-selector gearbox for well known reasons. Isn't it nice to have plenty of time to do things!
Best wishes,
Ian
Discovered an easy way of testing if your distributor needs to go to the Doctor. Remove rotor arm and turn engine until points are open. Wiggle the top of the distributor shaft while looking at the points gap. If you have, say, 5 thou shaft wear this will equate to around 10 thou at the points and is easily seen as it is around half the points gap. Needless to say, both my distributors are now off to the Doctor!
Attached photo shows how I measure the advance curve. The distributor is driven at 8 different speeds by the lathe - a microprocessor linked to two infra-red pickups on the distributor measures both speed and advance. I don't like to do this in-car with a pre-selector gearbox for well known reasons. Isn't it nice to have plenty of time to do things!
Best wishes,
Ian