distributor gear

[twanita]

i noticed my 402FE with breakerless conversion distributor was getting weaker and backfiring so i adjusted the timing quite a bit and it came back to life. wondered why it had changed.

an old mechanic once told me "when you find a problem,fix that problem".

month later, car backfires and shuts down. tow home, play around and find timing way off again so adjust timing. runs great so i go for test drive. towed home again tonight. suspicious of mechanical advance mechanism until i notice rotor and shaft spins 360 degrees by hand. the pin on the gear had sheared but was letting the gear just rotate on the shaft just a little due to friction.


is this a good time to go to that msd pro billet. what is best model # and will it just plug directly to my red msd box.?

[pbrown]

The MSD part number you need is 8594.
http://www.msdignition.com/dist_22.htm

It required an MSD ignition box to operate. If you already have an MSD 6A, 6AL, or similar, you will be fine.

You could probably replace the gear of your old dizzy.

Also, make sure you match the cam material to the dizzy gear material.

[Naumoff]

This can happen to MSD and other dizzys aswell. I Helped a friend fix a Mallery that did the same thing. Unless you want a new MSD I would just put a new pin in and go. Buy some extra pins and put them in your tool kit.

[Brent]

Tony is correct.

You can also drill the shaft and gear for a second pin.

I bet you have a "high volume" oil pump too.

Is your oil pressure over 40psi? If it is it's hard on parts.

[will butterworth]

suggestion---all the above agree with---looks like a ford distributor--dump all that ford distr., ignition module, get a drop in msd -make sure cam material and dist. gear match, and you are good to go. Will-alabama

[scott h]

i was about to post a similar question. How do you determine what material the gear should be ? does anyone have experiece with the digital MSD dists, and finally mechanical advance, or mechanical with vacuum advance

[pgermond]

Jim,

That is exactly the reason I changed mine to an MSD (before something like that happened). Here is the link pertaining to my replacement http://www.uniquecobra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6176&highlight=pro-billet

I still have the old distributor if you are interested.

[pbrown]

How do you determine what material the gear should be ? does anyone have experiece with the digital MSD dists, and finally mechanical advance, or mechanical with vacuum advance

A flat tappet cam will typically have a cast iron gear. A roller cam will typically have a steel gear.

I haven't used the new MSD eCurve units yet but was going to get one for the Falcon.

Mechanical advance works fine on the track or street. The addition of a vacuum advance mechanism adds some fuel economy and will help with part throttle driveability.

[twanita]

thanks for the good advice. the oil pressure definitely averages over 40 psi. if the msd also has the same weakness, i might just try a larger roll pin and see how it goes because the gear and shaft are ok and the msd is over $300.

[Naumoff]

Hey Jim, I just noticed you have the 427 car before mine. :cool:

[Brent]

Jim,

If you are going with a larger pin you can run a smaller pin inside of the larger one as well.
Make sure they are a super tight press fit. Be good forever.

[ralphscott]

That is what I did with the pin on my distributor gear and I run 60+psi no problems. 428 with a Mallory

Ralph

[twanita]

i used a 3/16" pin but car is back and running tonite so i probably will try without the second pin and see how it lasts. there was already 2 egg-shaped holes in the shaft so i tapped one and used a #8 brass tipped set screw to hold everything aligned while i opened up other hole on the bridgeport. then removed screw after pinned. looks a lot stronger.
tony, ya i remember you finished way before me even though we started around same time. jim o

[Naumoff]

Jim,
How many miles before the pin let loose?
I have the same distributor and I am thinking of checking it out.

[twanita]

about 900 miles.

[Naumoff]

900? I have almost 10,000 miles on my car and the distributor. 1000 miles since my engine upgrade. :shift:

Maybe I should check it when I adjust my valves.

Jim, You need to do some more milk runs.:D