235 distributor problem

I was finishing up the pertronix ignitor install in my '53 wagon and ran into a problem with the distributor. The part of the shaft that the rotor presses onto is able to move independently of the other end with the drive gear. If you push the top end in, you can get the whole thing to turn, but the problem is it goes in in a buch of different spots. I can't see how this would work, so I figured something's wrong with the distributor. Is there any way to fix it, or do I need another one? If I do, anyone got a spare one laying around. Also, the vacuum advance canister has a threaded end on it, is it supposed to have a ****** for a vacuum hose, or do I need to make a hardline for the vacuum and what's a good source to pull the vacuum off? Thanks in advance.

 

I think the answers to all of your questions are: depends on year of manufacture. All the distributors will go into all the blocks and oil pumps from 37-62. However, different years had different combos of caps, rotors, vacuum lines. Check the cap and rotor first to make sure they fit together correctly like what you took out. if not, it might be a bad distributor. But if it worked when you took it off, must be something you changed to make it not work.

 

does the centrifugal advance mechanism work properly? the rotor is supposed to move (sort of) independently of the drive shaft....it's spring loaded, and has weights and cams that advance the rotor as RPM increases.

If the mechanism is sticky, it will not return to zero advance, maybe that's what is going on with yours. Or if the springs are missing it will move freely.

 

It moves really freely, like I can clock it and turn it through each of the spots that it slips into. Heck, I could just spin the rotor around if I wanted to without it engaging anything. The thing ran before, maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I don't want to have a major problem down the road.

 

Yes, the vacuum port is threaded. A regular brake line fitting and a short piece of hard line should solve thay problem.

 

Wayfarer,
Are you saying that the cobalt magnet that came in the Pertronix kit doesn't lock into place on the reluctor? Or that it does slide into place but the entire reluctor moves?

 

The pertronix kit is fine, the entire top of the shaft moves.

 

I would take it apart and see what's wrong with it. but that's just the way I am.