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Play in the distributor cam?

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  • Ignition: Play in the distributor cam?

    Hey guys,

    I don't know if I just never noticed it or what, but when I replaced my faulty rotor and put points in today, I noticed there's a little bit of give to the distributor cam, i.e. I can move it slightly with my fingers. It's only the cam moving, the actual motor wasn't turning. Everything seems to work fine. Once I went through the whole dwell, timing, carb routine she's running like a top, so apparently the looseness isn't that big of a deal for now, but if it's not supposed to be that way, how should I go about correcting that?

    Thanks!
    '63 Lark Custom, 259 v8, auto, child seat

    "Your friendly neighborhood Studebaker evangelist"

  • #2
    It always helps to know which car you are talking about!
    The 63 in your picture?
    Last edited by rkapteyn; 11-20-2013, 09:13 PM.

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    • #3
      Yes, sorry! That one, down there. Sometimes I forget that a Studebaker owner with only one Studebaker is a minority in our little universe
      '63 Lark Custom, 259 v8, auto, child seat

      "Your friendly neighborhood Studebaker evangelist"

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      • #4
        I noticed there's a little bit of give to the distributor cam, i.e. I can move it slightly with my fingers.
        Jim, help us help you. Is the movement radial, lateral, vertical?

        Also there are two different Delco distributors (with/without window) and two different Prestolite distributors (single and dual point) and variations of each. That your car is a '63 259" is no sure thing as to which distributor is installed. They get swapped around all the time.

        In any case, the cam is not directly attached to the drive shaft. That's how the centrifugal advance works. Some circular movement about the shaft is normal. That's just play in the centrifugal advance. Some vertical movement (less than .010") again is normal end play. Side-to-side movement is wear in the bushings and that is not good.

        jack vines
        PackardV8

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        • #5
          Rotary motion may be the result of vertical (end) play. As you rotate the shaft, it (the shaft) turns agains the drive gear, riding up or down, as direction indicates. When the engine is running, the shaft (gear) is held in the up or down position by friction within the sytem, and doesn't change as the engine runs. More than .010 verticial movement though is not good.

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          • #6
            Thanks guys. Jack, you're right, I left out a lot of details. I suppose it's not wise to write these things late at night!

            It's the single point prestolite, and the movement is rotary (circular). I noticed it when I was jogging the cam with my starter button to get the cam lined up to space the points. I could turn the thing probably an eighth turn clockwise from where it's jogged by the motor when I bump it with my starter button. Obviously, the motor rotates the cam counterclockwise and it's not as though I can get any extra rotation in that direction, which is what matters, or seems to anyway.
            '63 Lark Custom, 259 v8, auto, child seat

            "Your friendly neighborhood Studebaker evangelist"

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            • #7
              paragraph f here -


              the direction to test twist may or may not be right.
              If the distributor has 15 degrees of centrifugal advance (30 crankshaft degrees) then I should be able to twist the rotor 15 degrees and it should rotate back on its own smoothly.

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