Distributor with vents? more waterproofing wanted (1 Viewer)

[DKW]

Is it possible to get a distributor cap with vent holes in it? I thought I saw something about it somewhere, but cant find it now.

I am trying to waterproof it a little it more. In the dizzy body there are 2 larger holes (around 5mm), and a small drain at the bottom - they are too difficult to attach to and also close to the hot engine. I thought about plugging the 2 larger holes and adding vent/breathers on the cap if it had them. I guess i could drill into existing cap, but really dont want to do this.

Aside from this i am doing the usual, loads of dielectric grease, drive train breathers, etc.

 

[Mark W]

Plug the "inaccessible" holes in the distributor body and drill new ones in the side for nipples/vent lines. There are not any caps for this engine with vents, but it is easy to drill the cap too. But then you have to redo it every time you change the cap.

Sealing without "re-venting" will lead to corrosion in the distributor pretty quickly.

Mark...

 

[Kernal]

Closing the breather holes can cause corrosion internally, been done before with bad results. Try some searches in the 80 forum for key words, distributor, breather, vents, etc.

 

[DKW]

Thanks for the replies. Yes definitely will not seal without any venting, just a question of where to make the new holes. I need to look again at the body and find a good couple of places, or the cap if i cant. Shame we cant buy a cap with vents.

If i use the body, will then drill and tap, maybe 1/4 npt and find a npt x barb 90 degree. Alternatively a thru hole, and jb weld a fitting in there.

 

[Mark W]

I have also uses brass tubes pressed with an interference fit into holes drilled in the dist. Simpler than cutting threads and much smaller holes needed.

Mark...

 

[ERG80]

Distributer Breather

Fabbed up a breather setup for the distributer. It has three holes in it that need to be taken care of. Bill Edit - second picture now shows possibility of air in and air out. Differs from info in post #6.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[DKW]

Mark - any issues with the brass and aluminum corroding?

 

[Mark W]

I've got a distributor here somewhere that I did 20 years ago. No problems yet.

Mark...

 

[Mark W]

You can find AL tubing if you prefer. I just happen to have the brass on hand Use it when making knives/knife handles.

Mark...

 

[LandLocked93]

Just curious...
With the factory air box and the dizzy roughly the same height from the ground...and no mention of a 'dorkel'...what is driving the desire to do this?

 

[DKW]

Just curious...
With the factory air box and the dizzy roughly the same height from the ground...and no mention of a 'dorkel'...what is driving the desire to do this?

A lot of water in SE Florida, and i have splashed enough water into my engine bay for it to cut out a few times, usually my fault. Airbox is easy to check and always seems dry so guessing it is the dizzy. Will find out on next outing. Not looking to do deep crossings, just an improvement, i had battery tray removed so decided to see what i can do while i had access.

 

[LandLocked93]

A lot of water in SE Florida, and i have splashed enough water into my engine bay for it to cut out a few times, usually my fault. Airbox is easy to check and always seems dry so guessing it is the dizzy. Will find out on next outing. Not looking to do deep crossings, just an improvement, i had battery tray removed so decided to see what i can do while i had access.

I see.
Unless you're sure you've sussed everything else out, the dizzy would be pretty low on my suspect list with splashing being the perpetrator.
Happy trails and good luck!

 

[Mark W]

I see.
Unless you're sure you've sussed everything else out, the dizzy would be pretty low on my suspect list with splashing being the perpetrator.
Happy trails and good luck!

My guess would be you don't do a lot of border crossings? If you do spend a lot of time crossing rivers or even significant streams and creeks, it is very common to splash enough water on the distributor of the 1FZ to cause problems when the factory air intake inside the fender is still very happy .

Can lots of people do without extending the vents on their distributor? Yup. Lots and lots of people can. But there's plenty of us who need to pay attention to this little detail.

Mark...

 

[LandLocked93]

My guess would be you don't do a lot of border crossings? If you do spend a lot of time crossing rivers or even significant streams and creeks, it is very common to splash enough water on the distributor of the 1FZ to cause problems when the factory air intake inside the fender is still very happy .

Can lots of people do without extending the vents on their distributor? Yup. Lots and lots of people can. But there's plenty of us who need to pay attention to this little detail.

Mark...

I agree. Fording rivers is much different than road splash which is what came to mind. I misunderstood.
And no, not alot of water works in my area to be overly concerned with OEM+ levels of water tightness.

 

[Mark W]

Ha... I just now saw my typo above. "Border crossings" Fortunately my meaning was clear. I hope.

Mark...

 

[Kernal]

Some borders are rivers so it made sense either way .

 

[Pippylongsausage]

I've thought about putting a float type automatic air vent on the distributor. They are used on pump and piping systems to purge air. As soon as water hits them, a float closes the vent.

 

[DKW]

I googled these type of auto shut off vales too, but couldn't anything before my patience ran out.

It took me 10 minutes to drill some holes in the dizzy base and jb weld some small stainless tubing ( made from a SS drinking straw). I filled in the other 5mm holes. Right now they will just run to firewall and terminate with a cheap fuel filter, but there are better locations ( airbox, cabin, etc) i will eventually look at. Tiny drain in dizzy is still open, so will need to do something with that when battery tray is next out.

 

[Pippylongsausage]

Here's a nice small one that would work. I might have to try this out.

Amazon product ASIN B07PQFWWZC

 

[DKW]

Mmm. Would need to think about that. It is designed to bled air from a water tank. As a vent we want it to pass air, even if it was submerged, is that your thinking? It would need a pressure across it to function. I am not saying it wouldn't work, i just cant get my head around it. What about the vents on the lockers?