Hey, guys. Haven't posted in quite a while! I've finally got around to working on my Skylark. It's been sitting for about 4 years. So I put a new battery in it, new filters all around and fresh oil, and I siphoned the old gas out and put fresh stuff in. I also installed new plugs, points and condenser, cap and rotor on the distributor. The problem I'm having is the plate that the points and condenser are mounted to in the distributor seems really loose. When I roll the engine over by hand instead of my points opening and closing the plate just wobbles around and I'm not getting spark at the plugs. I'm wondering if there's something I'm overlooking, or if its something that would require a rebuild or replacement distributor.
If I’m not mistaken (and that RARELY happens), there should be a screw (or two) holding that plate in place. When you replaced the points, could you have removed them without realizing what they were there for? Check to see if you’ve got a couple of extra holes in the plate. Chances are they’ll need fasteners.
It actually a little snap ring holding it to the plate to the casting. The plate is supposed to be able to move when the vacuum advance gets vscuum applied to it. Its either worn or more likely the bronze bushing is worn. In which case, you'll need a new distributor
The breaker plate rotates around the upper bushing, and is held in place by a wave spring clip in a groove in the top of the upper bushing. You will need to remove the distributor gear to remove the distributor shaft to see what I am referring to. The breaker plate can become loose if the wave spring clip is missing broken or otherwise not in the right place. The breaker plate can also become loose if the upper bearing is standing too tall out of the distributor body. I have all the equipment and parts to fully service these distributors. Let me know if I can be of any service. Ken g Everyday Performance LLC
Thanks for the input, guys. From the sounds of it, the easiest solution for me would be to just replace it. I'm gonna call around today and see if I can't find a replacement from one of my local salvage yards. Either another points distributor or an HEI distributor. Otherwise I'll probably order one from TA Performance. Will any 350 Buick HEI distributor fit?
http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/points-distributor-rebuild-overhaul-kit-bop.320858/ http://everyday-performance.com/distributors.htm
As far as I know all Buick small block and big blocks are the same dist. Just the gear is differant. One uses 13 teeth, the other uses 14 teeth but I can't remember off my head which is which. But I have taken a small block dist swapped gears and put it in a big block before no issues
That is true (small block -14 teeth, Big block, 13 teeth)BUT, they also differ in the amount of mechanical advance built into them, sometimes, quite substantially. You can't disregard that, it affects how much, or how little initial advance you can run.
Well I would hope and assumed, mistake I know, that the person doing the swapping would recurve as needed or wanted
Not so easy to do with the stock distributors. You need to disassemble the distributor, weld up the advance slot, and custom file it for the advance you want. In some cases you can use a bushing, in other cases, that isn't enough. Some of the mid to late 60's distributor had as much as 30-34* of mechanical advance. They were meant to be initially timed at TDC. Contrast that with the 71-72 distributors that had as little as 12* of mechanical advance. Buying a parts store replacement rebuilt distributor, and you never know what you will get, and if you don't pay attention, or know how to set total timing, you end up with too little or too much total advance at WOT. I would say the OP here should first determine what part number distributor he has now. As we all know, it isn't necessarily the distributor that engine left the factory with. If it has the curve he needs, just have Ken rebuild it, if not, let Ken rebuild and re-curve it.
Absolutely. I can do a full rebuild/restore and curve it however you like. ken@everyday-performance.com 860-218-5780
Well, I wound up picking up a remanufactured distributor from AutoZone since it was so cheap. Only $50. Dropped it in and it fired right up. Now I've just gotta replace the brake master cylinder and power steering pump and it'll be ready to drive! I'm super excited! Thanks again for all the info, guys.
I've never done that before. After looking it up basically what I'm supposed to do is set the advance knob on my timing light to 36 degrees, rev the engine to 2500 rpm, and line my timing mark up with 0? 36 degrees is for a SBC, though. Is that a good setting for my Buick as well?
30-34* is generally what a Buick engine likes, so start with 32*. You have it right except for the 2500 part. When you adjust total timing, you must do that with the weights extended all the way out. What RPM that occurs will depend on the springs in that distributor. Stock springs might not allow that until as much as 4600 RPM. If you adjusted your total timing on a distributor like that at 2500 RPM, you would find that your timing would advance beyond that because the weights weren’t all the way out when you set the total timing. The easiest way to do this is to get a set of really light springs just for the purpose of setting the total advance. BTW, this does NOT include vacuum advance. That is disconnected and plugged when setting the total. Leave the distributor just loose enough to turn. Set the dial on the light to your intended total. In this case 32. Rev the engine slowly until you see the balancer mark stop moving UP. At that RPM, turn the distributor until the balancer mark is aligned with the 0 on the timing tab. Again this all depends on getting the weights out to their full travel. The indication that the weights are full travel is when the balancer marks stops moving as you rev the engine. The biggest mistake guys make is thinking that the weights are all the way out when they aren’t. Get some light springs like the yellow ones in the Crane kit.
http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/power-timing-your-buick-v8.63475/ https://www.summitracing.com/parts/crn-99601-1
Sounds easy enough. Thanks, Larry. Hopefully that will solve my spark knock issues as well. Under moderate to hard acceleration I get a constant popping noise. Not sure if it's coming from the carb or the exhaust. I'm assuming it's spark knock.
I've actually got an old video of it if anyone wants to take a listen. I was having the same problem when it was running a few years back.
