F1.5 Distributor Seating

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piecemeal

piecemeal

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I recently installed a new distributor in my 74FJ 40. I ordered the distributor from city racer and it said that it’s good for any units 75 and below. It looks slightly different than the one that I pulled out but appears visually that all of the shaft lengths and so forth or identical. When I installed the new distributor and put the clamp on to hold it in place I got it to run, but it feels like the distributor is jumping around a little bit in the clamp (up and down) and the truck is running badly. Is there any chance or has anyone else experienced needing to tap the distributor down a little further into the keyhole to get it to fully seated??
 
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Are you sure the oil pump drive is seated into the slot?
I would verify this before running it anymore. If there is any vertical play then it’s not properly seated and you could be running it with no or minimal oil circulation.
 
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I just put in a chineesium delco with a Toyota drive gear installed to replace my delco that was in use since 1980.
I pulled the plugs and used the starter to whirl it over. No oil pressure! I pulled the dizzy several times and some how lost the timing. The sealing oring on the dizzy was a really fat thick thing - so I put the skinny one off off the old dizzy on the new one. Set the engine at TDC#1 on compression, set the dizzy pointing at #4 and the oil pump slot more or less in line. Put the dizzy in and pressed down, using a remote starter switch whirled the engine over. I felt the tab drop into the slot. Tightened the clamp - used the key and the oil pressure came right up -YEA. Put in the plugs and it ran - spark off by 1 tooth as indicated by the timing light. Watched rotator shaft as I pulled it out just enough to disengage the cam (it moves due to curved teeth) turned it that much and pushed it back down. Bumped starter with remote switch while pushing down on the dizzy - again felt the tab fall into slot. Tightened the clamp, started it up then set the timing again. Ran like champ with oil pressure. After a couple hundred miles the chineesium points bent out of proper alignment so I put my old Delco points/condenser in - ran much better. I need to check today to see how they are doing.
 
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Back about 85 I was sick of the crappy oil pressure reading system. New senders didn't help. I put in a lighted direct read oil pressure gauge. I ran the nylon pressure tube inside fuel hose from the back of the gauge to the engine side of the fire wall - that way if the tube failed at the gauge I wouldn'd get a face full of hot oil. Works great.
 
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charliemeyer007 said:
I just put in a chineesium delco with a Toyota drive gear installed to replace my delco that was in use since 1980.
I pulled the plugs and used the starter to whirl it over. No oil pressure! I pulled the dizzy several times and some how lost the timing. The sealing oring on the dizzy was a really fat thick thing - so I put the skinny one off off the old dizzy on the new one. Set the engine at TDC#1 on compression, set the dizzy pointing at #4 and the oil pump slot more or less in line. Put the dizzy in and pressed down, using a remote starter switch whirled the engine over. I felt the tab drop into the slot. Tightened the clamp - used the key and the oil pressure came right up -YEA. Put in the plugs and it ran - spark off by 1 tooth as indicated by the timing light. Watched rotator shaft as I pulled it out just enough to disengage the cam (it moves due to curved teeth) turned it that much and pushed it back down. Bumped starter with remote switch while pushing down on the dizzy - again felt the tab fall into slot. Tightened the clamp, started it up then set the timing again. Ran like champ with oil pressure. After a couple hundred miles the chineesium points bent out of proper alignment so I put my old Delco points/condenser in - ran much better. I need to check today to see how they are doing.
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Distributor I got is a Toyota OEM distributor, but it has a clear vacuum advance thing on it that my old one did not have on it but otherwise it’s identical. It very well could be the O-ring is too thick and it’s not letting it seat low enough into The keyhole and it’s just catching it a little bit, causing it to only partially engage and then disengage and back-and-forth. I put a Per Tronics in mine so I don’t have the point issue. I’ll probably just go ahead and pull the dizzy check that O-ring. Thanks for the assistance. I’ll repost once I get a chance to do it hopefully tomorrow.
 
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piecemeal said:
it’s just catching it a little bit, causing it to only partially engage and then disengage and back-and-forth.
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The distributor shaft is not engaged with the oil pump, it's riding on top. Easiest is to put some weight, with one hand, on the dizzy cap and rotate the engine. the dizzy will fall that last 1/2" when the tab lines up with the slot. Don't run the engine until you are sure it's engaged.
 
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I like the plain mechanical advance on my tractor - no vacuum anything on my rig except the big direct read vacuum/pressure gauge hanging on the dash. Out on the road I adjust the gas pedal to where the vac starts to drop - the engine makes more noise but the rig doesn't go any faster with more pedal.

I like points I can work with them. They have only left me stranded once - the points arm snapped off on a 318 dodge dump truck. Many time black box ignition have failed on me. I can usually fiddle with points enough to get home or to the store. I keep a set in the glove box. In the tool box is the old cap and the longest plug wire, plus a starter.
 
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Pighead said:
The distributor shaft is not engaged with the oil pump, it's riding on top. Easiest is to put some weight, with one hand, on the dizzy cap and rotate the engine. the dizzy will fall that last 1/2" when the tab lines up with the slot. Don't run the engine until you are sure it's engaged.
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Awesome!! Thanks for all the help guys!!
 
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charliemeyer007 said:
I like the plain mechanical advance on my tractor - no vacuum anything on my rig except the big direct read vacuum/pressure gauge hanging on the dash. Out on the road I adjust the gas pedal to where the vac starts to drop - the engine makes more noise but the rig doesn't go any faster with more pedal.

I like points I can work with them. They have only left me stranded once - the points arm snapped off on a 318 dodge dump truck. Many time black box ignition have failed on me. I can usually fiddle with points enough to get home or to the store. I keep a set in the glove box. In the tool box is the old cap and the longest plug wire, plus a starter.
Click to expand...
I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have a spare Pertronix in a faraday cage at home and points in the truck so I can keep it as “emp” proof as possible 🤔🙂
 
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I think EMP resistant is the best you can hope for. One of my old military sergeants back in 75 was at the Bikini or one of the test shots. He told me the batteries in the deuce and a half exploded but with new batteries it fired right up, ran fine and charged. I don't remember if it was a diesel or if the light bulbs survived. No brain boxes back then.
 
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