Distributor gear alignment

[Pyrate2010]

I want to reuse my distributor gear but the holes for the roll pin don't line up. I have tried two different distributors and neither one lines up with my old gear. The hole is off by about one-third of the diameter, I was wondering if I should just redrill the hole and use a bigger pin or perhaps just put a little plug weld in the hole what do you guys think. Thanks Joe

[babywag]

what type distributor?

[Pyrate2010]

Stock duraspark replacement reman.

[babywag]

probably an aftermarket gear like MSD?
@ one point they were made out of spec.
They were little taller than OEM gear IIRC, which caused alignment issue.

Measure gear that came on reman. against yours see if that?s issue.

Probably have to drill new hole then to keep/reuse
Make sure end clearance is ok, and drill away I guess.

[TexasJ10]

The distributor in my j20 was drilled with the hole at a slight angle. The gear would only line up one way to reinstall the pin. I assumed it was one of those Friday afternoon manufacturing things at the plant.

[Pyrate2010]

The fiirst new distributor that I got the hole was drilled at an angle also and so I returned it and tried to get a better one. the second one the hole is way up towards the gear and doesn't fit. I don't have a drill press ,so I am hesitant to attempt to drill it myself

[fulsizjeep]

I had a local machine shop that is familiar with rebuilding AMC V8s drill the distributor shaft on 2 of my HEI distributors for $20. Two for $20. The shop owner is familiar with the proper gap for the bushing between the gear and the bottom of the distributor housing. I sure don't have the capacity to do this at home.

[babywag]

The fiirst new distributor that I got the hole was drilled at an angle also and so I returned it and tried to get a better one. the second one the hole is way up towards the gear and doesn't fit. I don't have a drill press ,so I am hesitant to attempt to drill it myself

They're dirt simple to rebuild if you have the original OEM/AMC one around somewhere?
A single bushing in the bottom of housing, new pickup coil/reluctor, and a working vacuum can. Maybe new advance spring kit.
Maybe use all new stuff from reman, but use an original shaft?
Clean it, lube it, install new stuff, good as new.

[Pyrate2010]

Thanks for the reply guys, swapping out the distributor shaft with my old one is a intriguing idea. As far as drilling it out at home yeah I'm not sure if that would be such a good idea or not, perhaps a machine shop would be better.

[babywag]

I?d rather use an original OEM used part vs. a reman of obvious poor QC.
Reman parts and new parts are a crap shoot these days.

Get the distributor gear clearance or alignment wrong = gear chewage and hours of fun disassembling front engine to replace gear set.

Your call, but I know what I would do.

[Pyrate2010]

Babywag, thanks for the idea to swap out the shaft it was really easy like you said, hopefully it will work out okay. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks when I fire this thing up for the first time.

[roddiaz1]

Duraspark distributor disassembly

Are there any instructions or videos on how to disassemble a duraspark dizzy to the point of extracting the shaft from the body? I can only find instructions that go as far the reluctor (spelling?).



I'm having the same issue that the new dizzy's roll pin hole is centered whereas the original distributor has a slightly off-center hole for the roll-pin. Therefore the original gear (macthed to the gear on the crankshaft) will not intall into the new dizzy.


I thought of the dilling a second hole at 90 degrees from the original, but I'm affraid to do so. Perhaps a machine shop could do this, but I'm not familiar with any in the area. So the shaft swap is an appealing approach if it is not too involved.


Thanks,
Rod

[babywag]

once gear is off and reluctor & pickup plate removed whole assembly just comes out.

ristow has pics in engine tech archives if you can't figure it out.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=84586

[roddiaz1]

Perfect!
Thanks for the link. Just what I needed.
Rod

[jeepman1]

I had to turn a summit dizzy 90 deg. then drill and pound pin in w/ 8 lb hammer. Still haven't started my engine but I'm getting close. I used orig gear and think I got it pretty close..
I need to find out what wire to run to this HEI dizzy now..