It's actually surprising how easy it is to actually pull the distributor once the cap is off. In my truck the Mallory has about 1/2" clearance to the firewall. Once you pull the cap and hold down the thing only needs to come up about an inch before it will disengage the gears etc. it's a hemi rather than a stude but I don't image it's a bunch different. Just saying.
This is kinda what I’m working with @dumprat Stude looks to me like it would have to come up around 5” before you could start tipping it over and out. sits into the firewall recess roughly this much. witch puts the forward edge of the flange about dead center of the coil terminal in the center of the cap. I would have basically the space the cap takes up to pull up and tip it. I don’t think it’s enough? and here’s what my drivers side fender to tire looks like at the moment for no real reason. well here’s a reason! I figured out my “twist” issue that was driving me nuts. the u bolts and the plate under the spring pack are not sitting centered or even straight! My assumption is that the plate is not flat or it’s not aligning correct. It is slight off to one side causing the front to tilt. Just a tiny bit but enough to telegraph at the frame horns. it is off behind the cross member as well but just a tiny amount I think having the engine sitting in the car is keeping it more level than if it was un loaded. Before finding it I measure the side wall of each tire, the drop of axle side of the axle, the arch of the spring and nearly a dozen spots side to side. All 100% even. I dug through photos and found with the old spring it did the exact same thing I just never took notice of it. I had always checked to see if the plate was sinching things down tight but never thought it would be sitting funny as long as the tie bolt in the spring pack was in the hole in the cross member. very pleased to have found this. Worse case I make a shim or mill the bottom plate true. Best case I flip the plate 180 deg and it’s fixed. I’m Always very anal to put everything back how it was even down to the same but going on the same stud so I’m sure it’s been exactly this way the whole time. I sure like that fender being so low but I’ve got some good ideas for adjusting it back down once I get this lean sorted out
Hey, Timm; Don't know if you know, but stude used more than one kind of dist type. The early 232 v8, (starting in)'51 & for some time later(don't remember off the top of my head), used a 2-pc dist. Drive shaft w/tang. & gear-drive was separate, & the shorty dist dropped in on top of that. Don't have one right here to measure, but I guess the "tube" below the body was only a few inches long(I'm thinking ~3-4" at most). Very much like an acvw, pinto, &/or S6 dist. Anyways, that might solve some of your (lack of)room issues? ??? Marcus...
I wasn't sure you knew how long the distributer with the oil pump drive shaft is. Glad to see the picture above. I have seen distributers without the shaft but though it was just missing. There was also a Delco with the bigger "window" cap that GM used late '60s on. Think about getting something down there to prime the oil pump if needed. Would these give more room to the steering? https://avantiparts.biz/exhaust-headers-studebaker-v8-r-3-pair/
I'd have to go info-digging, to figure out the mfgr of the various dists. Evaporated from memory long ago. Think there was only one for the shortie. The long ones had at least two, possibly 4. Some were better than others, depending on what you wanted. IIRC(read: wag here),Stude went to the long attached-shaft pc due to mfgr-costs-savings, not because the early ones were junk/poor quality. I actually like n prefer the early ones, but there's more fiddlin'. Darn compromises... Marcus...
Is there any reason a guy couldn’t push the pin out of the oil pump shaft and make any distributor a “two piece” from what I read about stude two piece setups it should be an offset slot and groove but I’m unsure if the one shown would be like that. Would there be a bushing that keeps the pump shaft from moving around? Just chewing on ideas.
Prestolite (Autolite) & Delco Remy The Prestolites use the innards & cap for mid '50s Plymouth (maybe other MOPAR) V8 Delco used innards & cap for Chevy small blocks with small cap. There was a Stude specific rotor for the Delco but the one I found didn't fit but the Chevy did. There is probably more to it than this. We were doing this over 20 years ago.
Woke up this morning and it hits me that if I take a crescent shaped cut out of the flange in the firewall with the same or slightly larger diameter as the body of the distributor that I can probably get close to 4” of up and then tip it out and go the rest of the way. sometimes it’s like that.
Just so you know, the shaft wobbles abit(oh so little, on purpose), but doesn't flex, nor articulate at the joint more than a couple of degrees, at most. That wasn't its' intent. Marcus...
@nrgwizard i figured as much, but I figure at a certain point it’s a 2” hole with a 1/2 rod so there room to tilt. It doesn’t need to be removed 100% vertical etc
I don't remember if it goes into a smaller hole on the block where the oil pump bolts to the block. I have a couple of loose blocks I can take pictures of. I'll try to get out there today. Maybe even try to drop a distributer in one to check angles. I'll try, no promise. Honey Doos.
@Six Ball that would be great. If the bore for the oil pump shaft is smaller we just need to know how far up the body needs to come before it comes into the larger bore for the distributor shaft then you’d have room To tilt it a hair
Tom, Sorry I didn't get out there today, tomorrow? I know you need this info and I don't want to slow you down. I know where there is a distributer and the blocks are accessible. One a complete engine the other a bare block, both 259s. Sorry for the stall.
I was able to get to the one that is upright but is a tight spot. ("We're in a tight spot boys!") The pictures are a little fuzzy. I was not able to get the distributer all the way into the oil pump but far enough for this. The first shot in down the hole. You can barely see the oil pump slot just past the piece of trash I think I pushed into it. This as as far as it went in. The wide part sits on the block. The narrow part goes in. No matter for this. It will not tilt any significant amount until the gear clears the block. That happens at 5"-5 1/4". That puts the top on the distributer body about 10'' above the block and the cap about 13". Hope this helps!
That’s fantastic info! Thanks for the effort, time and photos! no stude stuff from me today but how about a gmc with 5 carbs, a caddy generator mount and a pair of 34 5 windows with Cadillac v8’s?
You are welcome! You know I'm a Jimmy guy, Hope I have time to put a 302 together to replace the tired 270 in my pickup. 5 carbs on a 6 always seemed strange maybe odd. The generator mount is a good idea. Always fun to see how others solve the same problem. That is so simple. Man I wish I had that shop but I'd probably just fill it with crap. My Caddy could replace the 270. So many options.
Well I got the shop clean, still have some piles of random hardware to sort and the bench could use a coat of paint but it’s close enough for the end of the year. Taking a nice pause for the moment. @Austin kays is making some great, steady progress on getting his 34 together if you need something to read https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/a-long-time-coming.1297753/ thinking we might take the A and the 34 to Pete and jakes open house this spring. Going to be their 50th year so probably a big showing. The 40th was huge with cars from dang near every time zone rolling in. A few weeks ago a client messaged me asking if I’d like some car magazines and books she found in her basement. Of course I said yes but this isn’t what I expected when I came into work last night! holy cow! Took me a half hour just to sort them all out. theres a book or two I’ll keep and a lot of mid to late 90’s hot rod magazine that I’m sure I wore completely out at the school library. Lots of nostalgia seeing these covers. the rest I’ll box up and send to the next guy to cherry pick and send onto the next guy after him. been a heck of a year in the shop this last twelve months, friends shops as well. Here’s to another big year of hot rodding in 2024!
I threw away about 1/2 a pickup load of magazines last year, mostly late 80s- early 2000s when I quit buying them. No one here wanted them. I have a few old ones. It is funny when I see the cover of old Hot Rod and Car Craft from the 60s I remember what is in some of them. Like there is a Hot Rod with a black T bucket and a guy wearing lederhosen on the cover. Inside in a letter section or a event description with a small picture if a pretty '28-'29 A sedan with a spare tire thrown over a headlight "pre rat". It is mentioned because to was driven to the event from far away. Even then real drivers did not get much attention in magazines.
Oh 100% I saw the cover and right away knew what was in it lol. I tend to say yes to this type of thing about once a year or so. So I’ve got a good chain of buddies to cycle them threw. We are all print fans so we try to make sure they all get a new home one way or another. I need to find a few late 90’s early 2000’s street rodders and some rodders journals and I’ll have most of what I want complete for them. had a good chunk of rodders digest that I lost in a flood, I’ve never seen any of those laying out on a table or up for grabs though.
That is pretty much what I tossed. I have more that need to go somewhere. Some magazines some books & repair manuals. I don't know of my son wants his Turning Wheels. ( Studebaker Drivers Club magazine) Her is several years of that. Then there is about 20 years of the 12 Port News form Inliners International.
I’m always a sucker for that sort of stuff I’ve got like a decade of model A news. Lots of good stuff in those as far as tech. Restoration stuff comes in handy when you have to restore your pile of car before you can hot rod it lol.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas , I got a tank of shielding gas for my welder I picked up this summer spent the evening breaking down cardboard boxes and staring at my firewall. I told @porknbeaner it felt like one of those tile puzzles where you slide and flip the pieces around in the frame. The tunnel for the distributor is getting taller and wider with the factory parts moved around for the most part, and the passenger head is going to need a little room when the motor gets raised. about went cross eyed with all the different shapes and slanted surfaces to consider, and how to brace it all while I cut it up. But I feel like I’ve got the jist figured out. Hope you’re all staying warm.
Hey @Six Ball ever seen something like these used on a stude? seems if the stock cap is generic enough that commonly found flat/ crab/ marine style cap should be easy to swap over and gain an inch or two. just thinking out loud
It is a good idea. Mallory distributers have a ton if interchange with each other and there are Mallorys for Studebaker not sure about these newer models. Delco is much the same and it may be that a flat cap from another application would work. Possibly a shorter rotor too? Worth checking out.
Yeah I need to measure, I’ve seen mention of ford crabs on chevy v8 distributors but that’s about it. Dont think they ever put studes in boats or that would be a lead lol.
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