Slop in rotor shaft....

[b5blue]

  My 440 dizzy has a rotor shaft that when I grab it can be moved out of alignment, like the top bushing is worn. It's not exactly flopping around in there like the A-1 Cardone reman. one was but clearly not held firmly in exact position. I'd think one that's correct would not budge at all side to side.
  The car ran great prior to a loss of spark on the road to the welders for some floor repair. This weekend I started poking around to find out why it stalled and not restart. I "thought" it was fuel pump but that passed testing so I went to spark and got nothing. The coil, ECU and wires checked out with normal readings so I took the cap off the dizzy and found some tracking through the rotor and checked the shaft finding the wobble. I got this dizzy from Don @ FBO about 3 years ago curved and vac. set for my build, it's a stock unit. 
  The fix is in the works, I'll be getting a complete new Firecore ready to run dizzy from Ron with a new coil to eliminate the old FBO A-688 Dizzy, resistor, coil and ECU. I just don't know if end play on that shaft is considered normal.   

[firefighter3931]

Neal,

The dizzy shaft should not wobble at all....if it does there is wear in the bushing and/or shaft. 

No bushings in the Firecore Distributor....it uses a ball bearing design 



Ron

[Nacho-RT74]

Amazing, Why Don left a worn bushing ? as far I know your car hasn't been running to be worn in JUST 3 years

would be great to get this still from regular parts shops, because IMHO these are expensive:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-1970s-Distributor-Bushing-NOS-MoPar-Cuda-Fury-300-Dart-Coronet-New-Yorker-/360485907945?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item53eea26de9&vxp=mtr

( well, you know the seller )

[resq302]

Ron,

Great info!  Never knew the Firecore distributor had ball bearings in it!     Does it look anything like original or can it be easily distinguished as an aftermarket piece?

[Dino]

Neil I have the Firecore RTR system.  I won't be able to fire the car up for quite a while to come unfortunately but the quality of the parts is outstanding! 

[b5blue]

Thanks for the feedback guys! 

[resq302]

Dino,

Can you post some pics?  I'd love to see what it looks like vs. an original unit one.

[Cooter]

Definately don't want play.

[cudaken]

B 5 Blue, can you move the rotor front to rear or is it left to right?  Could it just be the slop where the distributor sticks into the oil pump drive shaft slot?   

Every distributor I can recall had some left to right movement. I would use the slop to get the points at the right spot on the crown of the point trigger.

Fire Core has ball bearings, so does my old Accel dual point and it is 35 years old!   

Cuda Ken

[b5blue]

It's 360* slop, I do have to push some but it moves enough that I can see the air gap for the recluder change clearly. The bushing is worn I'm sure. Ya know I'll be farting around with it when it's swapped out.   

[Dino]

Dino,

Can you post some pics?  I'd love to see what it looks like vs. an original unit one.

I don't seem to have any pics here, I could swear I took some...

I'll get you some pics of the dizzy and coil which are mounted on the car, and the spark plug wires which are still on the box.

[firefighter3931]

Ron,

Great info!  Never knew the Firecore distributor had ball bearings in it!     Does it look anything like original or can it be easily distinguished as an aftermarket piece?

Brian, there are a few pics in this thread :


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,98636.0.html



Ron

[resq302]

Thanks Ron!  Man, that does look beefy!  Although, doesn't look anywhere close to stock with that smooth machined finish to it.  Oh well.  I wonder if someone makes ball bearings as a replacement or modification for a stock dizzy?

[b5blue]

My cam is the Mopar "Resto grind" 268/284* .450/.458 lift. ( P4452783 ) With the "stone stock" six pack any idea if the settings on the new Firecore dizzy are close enough to start with for testing Ron?   

[b5blue]

Amazing, Why Don left a worn bushing ? as far I know your car hasn't been running to be worn in JUST 3 years

would be great to get this still from regular parts shops, because IMHO these are expensive:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-1970s-Distributor-Bushing-NOS-MoPar-Cuda-Fury-300-Dart-Coronet-New-Yorker-/360485907945?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item53eea26de9&vxp=mtr

( well, you know the seller )

Yea that is steep $$! I think Don or Don's workers saw my dist. I sent in as a newly rebuilt unit. (And it was.) Unfortunately it was a A1-Cardone rebuild and they are pretty poorly rebuilt by high performance standards. The slop may not have been noticeable. I checked the Mopar Performance dist. I have that has less than 500 miles on it and it's nice and firm, I bought it early 2010 before going to the A-688 package.   

[firefighter3931]

My cam is the Mopar "Resto grind" 268/284* .450/.458 lift. ( P4452783 ) With the "stone stock" six pack any idea if the settings on the new Firecore dizzy are close enough to start with for testing Ron?   

Hi Neal,

The factory settings should be fine ; i'd stab it in and set the base timing at 15-16* and then recheck your total advance. The Firecore RTR's come pre-set with around 20* of mechanical advance. 



Ron

[b5blue]

Sounds good Ron!  Any idea where vacuum advance setting is set at? (My six pack LOVES that working for some reason.) 

[firefighter3931]

Sounds good Ron!  Any idea where vacuum advance setting is set at? (My six pack LOVES that working for some reason.) 

Neal,


Not sure on the vacuum advance but i "think" it's in the 8*-10* range.     

Easy enough to check by simply connecting the hose to manifold vacuum with the timing light on to get a reading....then adjust to your needs. 

The vac can uses an allen key just like the OEM distributors 


Ron

[b5blue]

Thanks Ron!