Electronic distributors and tuning them.

[kiwigtx]

In God We Trust.............unless it's distributors, then we turn to @HALIFAXHOPS

 

[pnora]

I would contact the guy thats sells them and ask about the pinning of the reluctor to the shaft. I would not trust it and it makes me wonder about how correct the phasing is?

 

[moparedtn]

Never mind all that...what did you do to your thumb?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

If you look at the reluctors they have two keyways and an arrow by each keyway... Well if all those last distributors were small black then they should all be clockwise rotation... But the arrows are pointing both ways... I realize it's 2024 and going both ways has become more accepted...(by some) I don't think that applies to distributors though.....

 

[Kern Dog]

Never mind all that...what did you do to your thumb?

I got old, that is what I did. I get cuts and cracks in my hands despite using lotions.
My thumb....I have a Band Aid on it but they slip off. I use black cloth tape that really sticks and protects.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Notice two arrows showing rotation? And two keyways....

 

[Kern Dog]

I would contact the guy thats sells them and ask about the pinning of the reluctor to the shaft. I would not trust it and it makes me wonder about how correct the phasing is?

The reluctor doesn't get pinned on, it is an interference fit. The OEM distributors use one roll pin, these aftermarket ones had 2. It looks like one of the roll pin holes is supposed to line up with the notch for the rotor. You can see that a few were slightly off center but none were more than a few degrees off center. Tomorrow I'll pull the one from my red car. It has been running with this distributor since 2001. If it is off center, that may dispel the thought that they have to be dead center to run.
This is a learning experience for me. I'm discovering stuff as I go.

 

[Kern Dog]

Yes, I see that. There are two marks where the arrow on the left is. The roll pin hole is off center of the rotor notch too, just like a few of the ones I have here.

This is why I wonder if they allow some small range to operate in where the reluctor can be a few degrees one way or the other and still be functional.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

They aren't dead center, they are offset, and since big blocks & small blocks rotate in opposite directions they need to be set up based on rotation...

 

[pnora]

They aren't dead center, they are offset, and since big blocks & small blocks rotate in opposite directions they need to be set up based on rotation...

I just have never seen one without a pin. Makes no sense that it is just pressed on without some way to index it correctly. Unless I am missing something?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Yeah, I haven't either.... China strikes again....

 

[1 Wild R/T]

In case anyone hasn't noticed I'm not a big fan of the Chrysler Electronic Ignition & even less of a Chinese knock off....
Ebooger was a good tech guy back in the day but honestly a lot of his Ebay stuff isn't any better than what every other smuck is pawning off on Ebay....

 

[Kern Dog]

Yeah, I haven't either.... China strikes again....

The 8 LA distributors I showed were all OEM as far as I knew. I pulled them from wrecking yards and parts cars I bought. They all seemed to have only one roll pin in them.
The two RE distributors I posted have two roll pins each, filling both grooves. The reluctor does slip up and down slightly on the one I had apart today.
I respect Ehrenberg and enjoyed reading his tech but I've also seen him stubbornly stick to some things that have been disproven. One of his claims was that one shouldn't use the later FMJR disc brake knuckle/spindle for fear of it over angling the upper ball joints leaking to failures. These have been used for years with zero reported failures yet he stands by his warning.
He is a strong proponent of using vacuum advance for street cars. He dislikes the coil over front suspensions for street cars. I don't know enough about ignition systems to dispute anything he says. I've seen the stock points and electronic systems run a long time in my cars and others so I'd need to see some accounts of problems others have had to get me to consider other systems.
For now, I'm going to try the FBO advance limiter plates like these:

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Normally there is one roll pin groove/keyway in the shaft but two grooves in the reluctor... So depending on rotation you use the groove with the corresponding arrow...

The FBO limiter plates are an easy way to do what I've always done the old school way...

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm just going from what it looks like before I get mine and install it.
This seems like an easy and adjustable way to try different amounts of advance in a way that is quick and reversible. It was only $39. I suppose I could take the T bar out of a few distributors and weld them up at different amounts to have a few of different ones to test. I was ready to weld up mine when I heard of these limiter plates.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

dist. degrees X 2 + initial= total

dist. degrees / slot size
6.............. .340
7............... .355
8............... .375
9............... .390
10.............. .405
11.5 ........... .420
12.............. .435
13.............. .445
14.............. .460
15.............. .475
16.............. .490
17.............. .505
18.............. .520

 

[Cranky]

I've run several cars on the street with mechanical distributors and have even run some vacuum advance distributors with the vacuum disconnected on both point type and electronic. At one time I had lots of distributors and carburetors to play with....

 

[Kern Dog]

dist. degrees X 2 + initial= total

dist. degrees / slot size
6.............. .340
7............... .355
8............... .375
9............... .390
10.............. .405
11.5 ........... .420
12.............. .435
13.............. .445
14.............. .460
15.............. .475
16.............. .490
17.............. .505
18.............. .520


That is great! I'm going to save that.

I have maybe 10 LA electronic distributors and 5 points type. My 67 Dart has had the same points distributor since 2005 and still runs great. I have a few RB electronic ones too. I seem to stumble onto stuff and keep more spares than I need but I hold onto stuff thinking someone may need something and I can help. I do like being able to do that when I can.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

dist. degrees X 2 + initial= total

dist. degrees / slot size
6.............. .340
7............... .355
8............... .375
9............... .390
10.............. .405
11.5 ........... .420
12.............. .435
13.............. .445
14.............. .460
15.............. .475
16.............. .490
17.............. .505
18.............. .520


That is great! I'm going to save that.

I have maybe 10 LA electronic distributors and 5 points type. My 67 Dart has had the same points distributor since 2005 and still runs great. I have a few RB electronic ones too. I seem to stumble onto stuff and keep more spares than I need but I hold onto stuff thinking someone may need something and I can help. I do like being able to do that when I can.

I've had friends that accused me of being a hoarder... But guess who they hit up when they need something... I don't have nearly as much stuff as I had twenty years ago... But I've kept some old cars on the road so I feel pretty good about my hoarding..

 

[Cranky]

dist. degrees X 2 + initial= total

dist. degrees / slot size
6.............. .340
7............... .355
8............... .375
9............... .390
10.............. .405
11.5 ........... .420
12.............. .435
13.............. .445
14.............. .460
15.............. .475
16.............. .490
17.............. .505
18.............. .520


That is great! I'm going to save that.

I have maybe 10 LA electronic distributors and 5 points type. My 67 Dart has had the same points distributor since 2005 and still runs great. I have a few RB electronic ones too. I seem to stumble onto stuff and keep more spares than I need but I hold onto stuff thinking someone may need something and I can help. I do like being able to do that when I can.

Same here but don't have so much anymore.

I've had friends that accused me of being a hoarder... But guess who they hit up when they need something... I don't have nearly as much stuff as I had twenty years ago... But I've kept some old cars on the road so I feel pretty good about my hoarding..

So far no one has called me a hoarder. Maybe that's because the majority of the stuff was out of sight. Most who know me knows that I have a lot of stuff and they usually come around and are happy to find something they need but these days I don't have nearly the stuff I used to have.