Distributor advance

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
Message
Author
Dave Erickson
356 Fan
Posts: 2189
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:34 pm
Location: Monterey, CA

Re: Distributor advance

#16 Post by Dave Erickson »

You can do a pretty accurate job by marking the pulley degrees with a felt tip pen. Build a graph by collecting the data points: number of degrees advance vs. RPM. They also sell pulleys with degrees already marked on them, but you may have to do some searching to find one that matches the 356 diameter. Gene Berg's sells a "power pulley" which matches the 356 pulley diameter and they have replacement degree rings available for it, so that would be another way to go: http://www.geneberg.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=802. They used to sell the power pulley machined for 356, but it is currently unavailable.

Mike Horton
356 Fan
Posts: 1260
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:13 pm
Location: Texas Panhandle South Plains

Re: Distributir advance

#17 Post by Mike Horton »

Phil Planck wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:08 pm There is a felt pad under the rotor. Apply some light oil and let it soak in. Give it a few days and try again. Might work.
Amen. I've had 2 lately, a BR18, and an 022, both long stored, which were so dry of lube, that the flyweight contact point was wearing fresh steel, and digging into the phenolic slide plate. the worst I've seen in over 15 years. Phil has this. I also had a recent 022, in which the original slide plate was cracked into 2 pieces, which were sticking the mechanicals... all it took to repair it was a new lubricated plate. Most of these as good as they've been, are 60 YO. The point cam also pivots on a "pin", metal to metal, and the light machine oil will wick better from the felt, to lube all under it.
Mike

Jon Bunin
356 Fan
Posts: 1800
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:06 pm
Location: Vista, CA

Re: Distributor advance

#18 Post by Jon Bunin »

jerry havel wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 5:32 pm I have a rebuilt distributor, the VJR 4 BR 18, that doesn't return back to the minimum advance after I turn the rotor to full advance by hand...
I think it's being overlooked that Jerry's distributor has already been rebuilt, as stated above, so presumably it was inspected, cleaned and lubricated.
His concern was that it wouldn't return well when twisted by hand, and I'll repeat that doing so is not a reliable or meaningful test of it's function.
Jon Bunin

User avatar
Harlan Halsey
356 Fan
Posts: 2339
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:05 pm
Location: No Cal SF Peninsula

Re: Distributor advance

#19 Post by Harlan Halsey »

jay darlington wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 11:35 pm if one does not have access to one of these machines what would one do ?
Jay D.
A question with a simple answer. Send the distributer to someone who knows what to do. Bruce Smith on the East Coast or John Jenkins on the West come to mind. Checking the distributers function with a tester is trivial. Returning its function to spec is not.

User avatar
Phil Planck
356 Fan
Posts: 2030
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: NE Michigan, lower penn.

Re: Distributor advance

#20 Post by Phil Planck »

Jon
Good observation about rebuilt distributor. But I take just the word "rebuilt" with a grain of salt without further info. Your observation about cam location is great. Never considered that.
Phil Planck

Ashley James
356 Fan
Posts: 449
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:38 pm
Location: Near Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK
Contact:

Re: Distributor advance

#21 Post by Ashley James »

I replaced my Bosch distributor with a 123 fully electronic one. Peace of mind.

Jay Darlington
356 Fan
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:15 pm
Location: coos bay oregon

Re: Distributor advance

#22 Post by Jay Darlington »

Ashley James wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:57 am I replaced my Bosch distributor with a 123 fully electronic one. Peace of mind.
yes sir! probably at the cost of a rebuild.
Jay D.
jay darlington

User avatar
Patrick Ertel
356 Fan
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:07 am
Location: West Central Ohio

Re: Distributor advance

#23 Post by Patrick Ertel »

Don't mess with it, send it out. Bill at Sparkswerks has done a great job on two of mine. Cost is anywhere from $135 to $175 depending on what it needs. If you are a stickler for authenticity, he can provide an old style condenser (with the hard wire to the + terminal). These are not new, but tested good originals.
Patrick Ertel

User avatar
Martin Benade
356 Fan
Posts: 12181
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:52 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Distributor advance

#24 Post by Martin Benade »

Why would you run an old condensor? It may only last another 40 years.
Cleveland Ohio
62 Cabriolet
56 VW
02 IS 300
04 Sienna

User avatar
Patrick Ertel
356 Fan
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:07 am
Location: West Central Ohio

Re: Distributor advance

#25 Post by Patrick Ertel »

Martin Benade wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 6:26 pm Why would you run an old condensor? It may only last another 40 years.
Concour perfection.
Patrick Ertel

User avatar
Patrick Ertel
356 Fan
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:07 am
Location: West Central Ohio

Re: Distributor advance

#26 Post by Patrick Ertel »

Phil Planck wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:32 am Jon
Good observation about rebuilt distributor. But I take just the word "rebuilt" with a grain of salt without further info. Your observation about cam location is great. Never considered that.
+1
"Rebuilt" is one of those indeterminate words, like "restored." It means different things to different people.
Patrick Ertel

User avatar
Jim Liberty
356 Registry Member
Posts: 4312
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 3:47 pm
Tag: Jim
Location: Orange Co., CA
Contact:

Re: Distributor advance

#27 Post by Jim Liberty »

Send it to John Jenkins. ..................Jim.
Jim Liberty

User avatar
Harlan Halsey
356 Fan
Posts: 2339
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:05 pm
Location: No Cal SF Peninsula

Re: Distributor advance

#28 Post by Harlan Halsey »

And when you get it back make sure it comes with the measured advance curve compared to the workshop manual spec and the position of each of the four points opening. (0, 90, 180, 270 +/- 1 deg.)

Post Reply