Hey guys the distributor rebuild continues. I wanted to set up my Pertronix unit in the distributor. Pertronix calls for .010 to .060 of air gap with the distributor shaft fully up and fully down. I have maybe an 1/8" or more of endplay on my distributor shaft. So there's no way I'll get that. I ordered some shims, but I can' find any endplay specs for the Nailhead distributors. I was thinking of trying to get about .010-.020. I'm just wondering if I should have any concerns about excessive pressure on the oil pump if I go to the tight side. Anyone?
It's been a long time since I did mine, but you do need to measure the play while the distributor is installed in the engine. Oil pump shaft fit isn't the issue, it's the dist gear/cam gear fit that matters. Maybe the chassis manual has a spec?
Are you saying the issue is the mesh between the cam gear and the distributor gear? Basically you want it centered like on a ring and pinion. I looked in my manual and didn't find a spec. but I'll look again. Sometimes those things aren't where I expect to find them.
When the cam turns it pushes the shaft up (or down depending on the engine). You want to be sure the rotor meshes with the module. Tight doesn't matter, just make sure it does not go too high. Its not like a bearing.
Yes, that's my concern. With the amount of endplay currently in the distributor, there's no way I'll be able to hold the air gap Pertronix is calling for. It will crash the module on one end and be too far out on the other.
.012-.015 is what I remember for a points distributor. https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?t...butor-allowable-end-play.360809/#post-3102383
Ok, I looked in manual again and couldn't find any reference to endplay. Initially I set it to 0.010. It seemed awfully tight. This is a steel distributor, so I probably don't have the expansion issue that I might have for an aluminum body. With the shims that I have I could only change in increments of 0.010. I decided to go with 0.020. That's still way better than what I had (0.1). I was able to get the high and low air gap set properly on the Pertronix unit with this endplay. So I'm happy there. I have to say I'm kind of amazed at how well the engine ran given what I found in the distributor. The vacuum advance didn't work, the bushing in the advance plate was long gone. The timing for this thing should have been all over the map. Hopefully now it's well set up for a while.
.010 to .015 is reasonable. If you get a Pertronix Igniter III that concern goes away. That Plastic ring with magnets is an awful design.
