23-07-2024, 08:23 AM
The biggest problem with these distributers is wear in the pins of, particularly the bob weights, but also the cam, baseplate and spring anchors. Fortunately the worst of it is usually the bob weights, fortunate because new one are available, as are spring anchors and springs! if the cam base plate and spindle are badly worn you probably best to search out a better one to begin with. Spindle bearings are usually also worn, but replaceable and not normally more so than the tolerances in the new cheap electronic distributor that have been available recently. Unfortunately for us points are far more susceptible to play in the system than electronic. You could take parts from these new units to restore an original distributer, however on the ones I have examined the spindles are not hardened and the cams usually have significate slop on the spindles, so back to square one. Although you could cure a worn pin by swapping cams. parts availability or the ability to re-machine seems to be the only way to resolve the issues at present. You could fit an electronic base plate in an original distributor and see a small improvement in running, but that path requires a non original coil, plug leads and some minor wiring alteration. The positive of this path is it's cheaper than a complete new unit and looks far more original than a total swap. Of course there are many owners who will not care about any of this and just convert to modern solutions. But for my mind the vintage aspect and quirks of our cars is the appeal, the information to keep them running well as they have done for the past 100 years is there if you want it.
Black Art Enthusiast