@ Anyone come across a 2F Engine distributor bore hole being too small?

[nomad8damon]

I'm a noob here, so thank you in advance for any assistance with this question. I've been reading the forums here for a number of years and have yet to find a question I have that hasn't been answered or in the very least discussed here until now. I've searched the depths of the internet, spoken with an engine rebuilder, and discussed this with local FJ40 rebuild shops, but they haven't seen or heard anyone having my issue.

In 2020 I began a rebuild of my 1976 FJ40. I brought the engine to a reputable engine rebuilder in the area who does 2F engines. He was back-logged over a year, but he had one that was ready to go so I traded mine for his. The serial number is 291954 on the "new" engine, which I believe corresponds to a later 1978. Unfortunately covid sidelined my project, so I'm just now diving back into it. Every part from the '76 matches up to the '78 engine with the exception of the distributor. The bore hole is smaller than the distributor bushings above the gears on the shaft. I've tried 3 different distributors at this point. The gears on the distributor fit in the hole, but the bushings above them overlap and sit on the lip. I measured the inside diameter of the bore hole and it's 1.035" and the OD on the distributor bushings are 1.058". I spoke with a local FJ shop and over the phone he checked a bunch of distributors he has from a wide range of years prior and post mine but got the same OD reading of 1.058" (give or take a thousandth). At this point I'm going to have the distributor bushings turned down to fit, but curious if anyone has ran into this issue?

Cheers,
Damon

 

[LCS]

Have you looked at the head ? did 1F come with smaller hole ? 20 thou with a file is alot of work. Where did the small hole come from ? must have been an application at some point that used a head with a smaller dist hole.
Paging Living in the Past ---- Pardi ? ----- Georg ? ---- Wngrog ? ----

Is it even a Toyota head ? Do the GM heads fit the F's ? Just a shot in the dark--

Dist hole is in the block, not the head.

 

[peesalot]

Right, just dawned on me. Same ? regarding blocks then ?

 

[nomad8damon]

I experienced the same issue years ago with my first FJ40, talk about PTSD! I purchased the rig cheap because the shop it was at couldn't find a distributor for it. I figured no big deal and ordered up a Trollhole dizzy. The 2f had a Jasper tag on it so I knew it was a reman but had no other history on it. I went to drop the replacement distributor in and it wouldn't go, simply too big for the hole. I played around with o-rings and such but the body was just too big to fit. Trollhole sent me another distributor and the second one happened to be machined slightly smaller and fit with a LOT of force. I remember it was a fight to get that thing in. Checked oil pressure and set the timing, all seemed well. Drove around a while and hit a bump and my oil pressure went to zero. I was having some issues with the connection at the sender and thought it was no big deal, but I really didn't have oil pressure and seized the motor. I checked and found I didn't tighten up the distributor bolt and it must have popped out just enough causing the loss of oil pressure. I don't remember the details as it was a long time ago, but looking back I am guessing something wasn't right from the start with that engine. I couldn't figure out how it would pop out and disengage (it was after all tight as hell in there) but something happened internally. Either way the motor was toast and I sold the truck because I was young and dumb. IF I were to have a repeat of this situation I would find an oem distributor first and give it a try. If it still doesn't fit, something is wrong and get it back to the engine builder.

Thanks for the feedback on your previous experience. It gives me a little hope I'm not just a little nuts. I have a friend that is a helicopter mechanic and built a couple FJs. I'm going to bribe him with a few beers to come over and confirm my measurements and sanity.

The local FJ shop wasn't really keen on me running off with one of their oem distributors, but made a couple measurements for me to compare on their blocks and distributors. Their bore holes and oem distributors were measuring in a range of 1.055" to 1.061" which seems to be the trend.

Cheers,
Damon

 

[JackA]

Have you looked at the head ? did 1F come with smaller hole ? 20 thou with a file is alot of work. Where did the small hole come from ? must have been an application at some point that used a head with a smaller dist hole.
Paging Living in the Past ---- Pardi ? ----- Georg ? ---- Wngrog ? ----

Is it even a Toyota head ? Do the GM heads fit the F's ? Just a shot in the dark--

The head has nothing to do with this issue being discussed.

 

[peesalot]

Yeah, it's a bonehead award for me on that one. Happens more these days.