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Distributor part - internal

Posted By Rusty_S85 6 Years Ago
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Rusty_S85
Question Posted 6 Years Ago
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Anyone here know what the dimensions are of the hairpin clip that holds the vacuum advance rod to the swivel plate for a '56 load-o-matic distributor?

Im looking at assortments but not sure if they have a size that even will work.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

KULTULZ
Posted 6 Years Ago
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Is the DIST in or out of the engine?



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Posted 6 Years Ago
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Its in the engine. I dont want to attwmpt to remove it.

Spent 2 hours and found a napa that had a hairpin assorment set happened to have two of the right size hair pins how ever they were a hair longer.

But now i have a new delima.

I can move the swivel plate by had quite stiff i think to advance. But the plate doesnt return on its own. Need to know if this is normal for theses engines or if its gummed up.

If its gummed up need a tip on what to use to clean it without removing the dist.

Aside from that things are going well except for firing out theses metal vacuum lines.

I tweaked the main advance line and got it to work but the second line with the loop it is in the way of the theottle bell crank.

The throttle is another issue my theottle rod from the bell crank to carb is too short. Found a tbird one listed on larrys going to hit up my parts manual see if car and thunderbird used the same rod.

1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

Tedster
Posted 6 Years Ago
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Removing (and re-installing) a distributor isn't that bad. If I can do it, anybody can. Do a little homework, lots of tips & tricks at our fingertips online these days. Engine will start up first time everytime, even the ignition timing will be "close enough", if the routine is followed carefully. The reason I say this, is because it is a pain in the you know what, to work on distributors when installed on a Y block due to their location. You could try solvents & oil, but petroleum products and points don't get along.

The breaker plate in a LOM should (I think) just like post '56 distributors, should move freely and smoothly and not stick, the canister arm should hold when vacuum is applied etc., and the breaker plate should snap back when vacuum is released. A shop manual would he helpful. Because I don't honestly know for sure. But it stands to reason a sticking plate is no bueno.

Another thing to look at is distributor wobble (155,000 miles?!) particularly with contact points. Remove the cap & rotor. With the point rubbing block on a cam lobe peak (points open) try to move the distributor shaft firmly side to side in different directions while observing point gap. If the gap moves noticeably, the distributor bushing is excessively worn. The ignition dwell will never be consistent and engine may even knock or "ping" with the timing retarded. Not trying to be a debbie downer here, just my observation when a distributor has problems in one area, it is likely there are problems elsewhere. It is a critical electro-mechanical analog device and it's 60 some years young!
Rusty_S85
Posted 6 Years Ago
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Tedster (12/16/2018)
Removing (and re-installing) a distributor isn't that bad. If I can do it, anybody can. Do a little homework, lots of tips & tricks at our fingertips online these days. Engine will start up first time everytime, even the ignition timing will be "close enough", if the routine is followed carefully. The reason I say this, is because it is a pain in the you know what, to work on distributors when installed on a Y block due to their location. You could try solvents & oil, but petroleum products and points don't get along.

The breaker plate in a LOM should (I think) just like post '56 distributors, should move freely and smoothly and not stick, the canister arm should hold when vacuum is applied etc., and the breaker plate should snap back when vacuum is released. A shop manual would he helpful. Because I don't honestly know for sure. But it stands to reason a sticking plate is no bueno.

Another thing to look at is distributor wobble (155,000 miles?!) particularly with contact points. Remove the cap & rotor. With the point rubbing block on a cam lobe peak (points open) try to move the distributor shaft firmly side to side in different directions while observing point gap. If the gap moves noticeably, the distributor bushing is excessively worn. The ignition dwell will never be consistent and engine may even knock or "ping" with the timing retarded. Not trying to be a debbie downer here, just my observation when a distributor has problems in one area, it is likely there are problems elsewhere. It is a critical electro-mechanical analog device and it's 60 some years young!


I don't mind pulling the dist I pull them all day long.  my thing is Ive seen a few people now state old Y blocks you can lose the rod down into the oil pan.  Not something I want to do on a vehicle that has to be mobile.

We pushed our move back to April of 2019 and I cant have the shaft falling down into the oil pan and have to push it out of the way so I can try to pull the engine for something like that.

I could spend the money and send this dist off to larrys, they offer a dist rebuilding service but that would take a month or so for turn around.

I was thinking maybe use something like electronics part cleaner maybe its enough of a solvent to free things up without actually harming the points or other electronics.

I have just about all manuals I could find and I would have to check but lots of these finer points have no mention in there, such as how to replace the choke heat tube and how it should fit together.  I will check but I don't know if it said anything about sticking.  I think it said it should move and not be frozen which mine does move but it doesn't snap back like with more modern dist that's why I am concerned and want to rectify this before I go wondering why my engine is still pinging.

I know the vacuum advance was working cause I checked it and it was full advance at idle and then I pulled the vacuum advance hose off and while running I saw timing dropped to 0* initial timing.  That's how I found out the shop that last worked on the engine some 30+ years ago retarded the initial timing to combat their 2150 2V carb hooked to a single can attached to this dist that was pulling full advance at idle.

So I know it works and returns back to idle but I just am wary of this and if this is a issue I do want to correct it as best as I can.

~Update~
I went through my digital shop manual in the dist section it talks about function as well as disassembly but no mention of the swivel plate and how it should work.  Going to grab my Holley pressure type distributor manual and thumb through that see if it has anything.

~Update~
Yep went through page by page of my distributor manual and it didn't make no mention of effort on the swivel plate or if it should snap back when assembled.  Did state in one part during assembly of the breaker plate that it should move freely but that was before the springs were installed.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

KULTULZ
Posted 6 Years Ago
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On the LOM DIST, the breaker plate swivels on the upper DIST shaft bushing. It may be corroded or just worn. Maybe remove the point set and use WD with wand to the pivot bushing, let sit and see if it frees up. If no luck, it will need a rebuild. Check shaft movement also as mentioned. If it is loose, it has to come out.

Just make sure the re-builder you choose is competent. Maybe call BUBBA'S IGN and see who they recommend.

ALL COMPONENTS of the LOM must operate as OEM set. You add a cam and you may have problems. All (CARB-DIST) has to be set as one component. You can adjust the spring cams to modify the actual curve. That is about it as the system is calibrated as a whole.



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Posted 6 Years Ago
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KULTULZ (12/17/2018)
On the LOM DIST, the breaker plate swivels on the upper DIST shaft bushing. It may be corroded or just worn. Maybe remove the point set and use WD with wand to the pivot bushing, let sit and see if it frees up. If no luck, it will need a rebuild. Check shaft movement also as mentioned. If it is loose, it has to come out.

Just make sure the re-builder you choose is competent. Maybe call BUBBA'S IGN and see who they recommend.

ALL COMPONENTS of the LOM must operate as OEM set. You add a cam and you may have problems. All (CARB-DIST) has to be set as one component. You can adjust the spring cams to modify the actual curve. That is about it as the system is calibrated as a whole.




Ill try that. I didnt feel any slop when turning the swivel plate it felt quite solid as far as play goes.

The oil fill plug to oil the dist does this lube the bushing?

Cause ive neber put oil in it and the engine and car did sit for 30 plus years.

If it does i will need to find some kind of oiler witha tiny flexible straw to get oil in though. If it does lube the bushing that chould be my whole problem. Maybe use a straw and squirt some wd40 in this lube point to let soak a bit then top off with 30w oil like my shop manual states to use.

1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

Tedster
Posted 6 Years Ago
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The oil cap feeds a drilled passage to the distributor bushing, which is a sintered oilite type. What that means, is it's made of a porous material, oil-impregnated during manufacture. There's no "hole" in these bushings, it soaks the additional oil up. With that bit of maybe interesting though useless trivia out of the way, it's doubtful that this would be a factor with an issue concerning the breaker plate.

The pump rod has a keeper or retaining clip on it, supposed to anyway, to keep it from being pulled out when removing distributor. Sometimes, this seemingly unimportant part is left out by less than "detail oriented" folks.
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Posted 6 Years Ago
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Tedster (12/17/2018)
The oil cap feeds a drilled passage to the distributor bushing, which is a sintered oilite type. What that means, is it's made of a porous material, oil-impregnated during manufacture. There's no "hole" in these bushings, it soaks the additional oil up. With that bit of maybe interesting though useless trivia out of the way, it's doubtful that this would be a factor with an issue concerning the breaker plate.

The pump rod has a keeper or retaining clip on it, supposed to anyway, to keep it from being pulled out when removing distributor. Sometimes, this seemingly unimportant part is left out by less than "detail oriented" folks.




Ah ok was just wondering cause my manuals state to add a few drops of oil ever so many thousand miles. Wonfering if that could be my issue if it hasnt been oiled in years. I havent oiled it cause its hard to get to and dont k ow how to oil it. I kewp looking at those light machine oil bottles with the telwscoping straw but then id have to drain the light oil out as shop manual indicated 20w or 30w cant remeber. I doibt a 20w or 30w oil could flow out that needle straw.

The clip was on mine, just shattered when i was putting it back in.

Thankfully i got a replacement in a small assortment box from the local napa.

On a side note i can get some of that 3 in 1 penetrating multi puprose oil with the extendible straw. Wonder if i could use that as a way to direct some oil to the breaker plate bushing without pulling too much off the dist.

Really dont want to use wd40 by itself as its not a lubricant.

1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

Tedster
Posted 6 Years Ago
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It oils the distributor bushing/shaft, nothing else. Oil vapors are not good for points. Since the retaining clip is installed it would be adviseable to pull the distributor for cleaning & inspection. If it has 155k miles and it sounds like it does a replacement would save time.


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