How to rebuild a standard points distributor | Hagerty DIY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 เม.ย. 2018
- If your distributor isn’t working correctly, you’re gonna have a bad time. As an integral part of your engine’s ignition system, it’s imperative that it operates correctly. There are some relatively simple fixes for distributor problems, like changing your points and condenser or installing a new cap and rotor, but sometimes it needs a full teardown and rebuild. Fortunately, Hagerty’s Davin Reckow is here to help as he walks you through the detailed steps in rebuilding a standard points distributor from a Ford 289 V-8 engine.
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Wonderful. Thank you so much for taking time to show the details properly. No silly razamatz, no annoying music. Just good sensible teaching. Very useful and gives me the confidence to go ahead and do the job. Please please make more of these quality videos.
Lll lol
Excellent how-to video! This gave me the confidence and know how to tear down, clean and reassemble a filthy, greasy, cruddy LoadOMatic distributor for my Ford 200 Ci Falcon engine. I rented a 3-prong puller at O'Reilly's, free of charge, and had the cam gear off in 10 minutes. Most every step was the same as in the video except removal of the breaker plate. There is a really thin metal ring at the top of the shaft that holds the plate in place. Carefully pry it off with a pick or awl. Thanks, Devin!
Thanks so much for the videos. I'll 16 so I've never seen to many cars with points but I recently got a 64 falcon with a 170 six and the points are shot. This video is super helpful to me. I'm thinking once saving up switching to electronic ignition. Thanks keep making awesome content
Eyyy thanks, I have a Chrysler 413 and I didn't wanna spend a bunch on a new distributor but now I don't have to. Thanks hagerty!
This is perfect for me have a couple of 200ci i6 distributors to rebuild thank you for the help
Gotta love the informational videos keep up the great vids!!!
I don't have any old ford or chevy but we have some japanese & euro car here that share the similar principle like this, so your video was a great source to find any information that I need to fix mine. Thanks a lot!
Excellent video! Very well done, thank you.
Nice David. Thanks for posting.
Enjoyed the video , very informative. My only question is why did you not clean the distributer first? It is so much easier to work clean over working dirty. Thanks for the excellent block of instruction.
great video devin thanks to you and hagerty and one at normal speed doesn't get no better than that cheers
Professionally done! Thank you!
Great video! Quite clear, good shots. Thanks for making it, whats next? the carb? how about an autolite 4100? Keep them coming!
Great thank you for showing how its done.
Good information thanks, you guys are awesome 👏
Great video. Appreciate all the detail.
Hi David, You are mistaken about not being able to use the puller to drive the shaft out. The center screw will push the shaft out and the housing acts as a solid base.
Very cool. Thank you
Nicely done, and great camera work too that keeps everything in sight.
Could you guys possibly do a rebuild video on a inline straight 6 engine? I'm working on an all original 51 Chevrolet short box and would like to see what kind of a job it would be. Love your videos very educational!
Just wanted to add my 2 cents - I used a small section of oil pump drive shaft to insert into the dist shaft to hammer on so I would not damage the dist shaft. I always used a brass mallet (or brass rod) when hammering on the gear unless it was being replaced with a bronze gear. Do not use oven cleaner on aluminum ever! It contains lye which dissolves aluminum. The roll pins are 1/8th inch diameter, I used the next size smaller drift punch to remove them and a larger one to install them. Use the heavy duty pins from industrial hardware suppliers, they won't shear like the stock type ones. The big problem I had rebuilding ford distributors was how loose the top bushing to shaft fit was. Even with new bushings I had too much wobble. It wasn't until this year I learned of metal spray welding. That would fix the worn shaft and fix the wobble.
Do you recommend oven cleaner to clean a sludged plastic valve cover? Or should I use kerosene or thinner instead?
Ford gears are a press fit and its highly possible to mess up the hex oil pump drive if you use a puller. When you check side play in the shaft, check with the shaft fully installed. At that point, there should be virtually no perceptible side play and the shaft should spin free. NEVER EVER grease the distributor shaft or advance weights. The solids in grease will clog the pores in the shaft bushings, and it will gum up the advance action over time.
Every time I see the innards of a distributor, I'm extremely grateful for electronic ignition.
My car has an electronically controlled - but distributor-based - ignition system by Bosch. And a Bosch MonoMotronic injection system, which is a single injector system that looks just like a carburetor.
My distributor has a lot of side-to-side play and it's eating rotors for lunch. They get obliterated hitting the insides of the distributor cap.
wait till you have to replace one the distributor have stood the test of time mine is a 1953 dodge dist very simple to work on lots of pepole do not know about the capacitor has to match the primary winding ( they have installed wrong value mfd capasitor) it will cause the points to pit if wrong value check points for pitting if so replace capacitor. with correct one
i love longer instructional videos like this on older vehicle maintenance its my dream to own some type of old vehicle they just last forever
and actually have style, are functional, and are beautiful
Not bad at all
You get a new subscription
All the best to you and yours Sir.
(Shameless plug for finger magnet)...now I want one!
good job you guys
Awesome thanks
Looking for the dual point conversion kit DB-18 for a C5OF-E distributor
does a 54' 235 dist. shaft come out the top also? what i mean is, do i HAVE to take gear off? ive hammered & hammered what looks like the pin(hash circle) and NOTHING! :(
very good
Great, love your videos but do you have video for 2E engine Toyota Corolla rebuild?
Hello, Very nice, but how do I clean the vacuum canister?
180 degrees from roadkill, lol
Cześć jaka ma być przerwa na stykach i skok zapłonu Ford mustang motor 351W
Very nice video, but it would have been a good idea to hold the dizzzy in a vice.
Know where to purchase those little nylon bumpers? Great vid!
Might try antique/vintage auto parts suppliers.
that little capacitor is very important the mfd must match the coil in that eng for max spark my 53 dodge needs a 27 mfd for max spark any thing more or less is a very weak spark in a series resonant circuit
I think it would be easier if it was in a vise. The sponge under the rotor should be oil filled, it keeps the mechanical advance and cam assembles lubed.
how do you know the firing order that dist you did not mention that
I have a couple of boxes of bushings I ordered by mistake so I completely rebuild all the old model ford tractor I can for free
Great work, be better with time lapse ))
how and were can you get bushings for a sloppy unit?
Most starter alt rebuild shop has some that will work but must be rimmed out to correct size
love the comment section here. soooo many world class technicians writing funny comments. thanks for the laugh guys
What if you need to change the bushings. How do you do that
Really hard to find them and install them with out correct rimmers. Might just get a rebuild one instead
I just realized, I'm keeping my original EGR piece.
how do you know you have correct condenser when rebuilding dist .
Parts store can look it up
Napa really are the best
Video shows how to put the horseshoe clip back in. But how do you get it out????
Couple of small screwdrivers or picks, used sorta like chopsticks
You're way off on your description of how the distributor/coil works. Love the videos just the same.
Not gonna lie, had a few cringe moments on this one. Overall still a good vid.
Me too!
For the sake of us newbies, what were they? What should he have done different?
@@rustyjeep2469 starting with the roll pin removal, using a tapered punch just spreads the pin, use a roll pin punch. Beating the gear with a hammer is absolutely a no no and that puller without a spinning tip will mar the oil pump drive. Clean anything you plan on rebuilding on the bench. That’s the only way to find any cracks or damage that the caked on grease could hide. I like Davin and this channel but a distributor is a precise part that should be cared for differently, and hitting the shaft with a steel hammer is not the way to do it.
How about a transistorized distributor?
what about the rubber seals...
O ring????
Emery cloth on points? Hmmm..
You are a Fucking Genius!!! Dang, man. I'm dropping the transmission!!! Wow.
Its better if you watch the video speed at 2x.
Ahahah :) Thnk u :)
I’ve seen distributors cleaned with brake cleaner.
It’s ok but can damage the plastic ware pads if use to much of it to often
First comment:)..i hope i can get some shelby mustang...;)
Where are you, and how much do you charge, to Keep this Ol Ford in commission???
put o ring back on dist
I'm assuming that the interior of the distributor isn't supposed to be rusty, gungy, and housing algae
My Ford AU Laser distributor needs TLC
You did not put a dab of grease on the cam............?
because he said he was just going to use engine oil
You got lucky and/or "cherry picked" a good distributor but, for the purposes of "instruction", it would have been good to show removing and replacing the bushings including any reaming that might have been necessary. A proper drift punch is ALWAYS best when removing pins to avoid mushrooming the end of the pin you are trying to push out. At least WARN those that don't know of this risk. Otherwise, NICE JOB !!
Never ever use a hammer to remove the gear or pound the distributor shaft out of the housing. Always use either a brass drift or a block of wood. Using the gear puller on the bottom of the shaft definitely could distort the oil pump drive inside the distributor shaft or mushroom the end. Bob is correct in that a drift should be used to remove the pins, even a nail the correct size with the point removed would be better. Supporting the shaft on wood is far better than subjecting the gear and/or shaft to the shock sustained when removal/insertion of pins and/or the gear and collar.
A tip for inserting any screw into any location: ALWAYS turn the screw backwards with slight downward pressure until you feel the screw 'drop' into the threads of the female portion before you start to tighten it in the clockwise direction. This will match up the threads so you won't cross thread. This works on ALL screws and bolts including plastic, wood, etc.
Additionally, a needle nose works extremely well for attaching e-clips as the force is more easily distributed & a small screwdriver inserted into the space between the 3 points of the clip and then twisting the screwdriver easily removes the clip without possible distortion of the clip.
All in all your video would be very helpful to those that have no experience in it.
And now this is distributor is ready to put back in the engine, except it's not exactly .something you can make such a big deal about taking it off and forgetting to replace. The O ring!
Use a brass hammer is my suggestion
I took out Pertronix I install 100 miles ago in my 1972 2.0 Pinto and put points back in because the car was back firing, tac jumping up and down, I'm just done with that after market crap. Car runs awesome again on points, Now I'm trying to get them to just refund me for it, Hassle. I'm making a youtube on the whole ordeal. ?? I ran my pinto around the block a few times with the 40,000 volt Flamethrower coil part# 40511 that came with the pertronix as a kit USING THE POINTS and it seems peppy, But I'm hearing on some google sites that it's not good to run a hot coil like that with points. because it will burn your points faster. I'm putting the Stock Pinto coil I have from the 70s back in because of what I'm reading about the hot coil no no. ANY BODY WANT TO CHIME IN ON HOT WITH POINTS???
The hot coil with the points is fine as long as the primary resistance of the coil matches the stock original coil and a ballast resistor or resistor wire is still in use. I've had about the same experiences with pertronix.
@@MattsRageFitGarage I think the hot coil is a little hotter, but it ran ok
Just stick with std parts
Pertronix is chinese junk, NEVER install it!
There were several times that this work could have added damage to the components. This type of work is exactly what you do NOT want if you have a one of a kind vehicle. I would never allow work like this on my vehicles. Beating on the end of the shaft with a hammer? You never know if your going to damage that shaft..
Well what do you do when components are stuck together and all normal/safe ways are ineffective? The shaft could be replaced but any other method would most likely risk damaging the case which is the main/visible part.
And if it was one of a kind (or one of a kind type demonstration), I'm pretty sure he would be treating it much gentler and not hammering and scraping it with a screwdriver.
I can't believe you re-used those nasty points and that 50 year old condenser...
Dennis P. I think it was more about process rather than performance. All about the steps
and it should always be a part of the process to replace things that are completely worn out.
Why would you want to do that you can buy distributors lifetime warranties for under a hundred bucks but really nice video
I don't really know what was accomplished here. No measurement of shaft runout to determine if the bushing is still good; no determination of whether or not the distributor is still on its desired advance curve, etc.
Great video but please clean the distributor before you strip it....!!!!
did anyone make it to the end of this? I fell asleep at about 3:17 .
how to rebuild, put in a box and get a Duraspark.
👏👏👏🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Since nobody can see into the distributor just get an Electronic PerTronix and throw away the points.