The tach needle had been jumping around on my 70 SB 300HP, so I figured that the cross shaft gear was wiped. What I found is that the distributor shaft gear which the cross shaft meshes with is in bad shape. Its the original distibutor. The outside of the distributor is rusted pretty good. I doubt anything has ever been done to it other than replace the points. How do I repair this? I'm assuming from looking at schematic drawings that the gear is part of the shaft and not pressed on. Can a new shaft be purchased and used with the other existing parts? Is it something I can send out to have the entire unit restored? Thanks as always for the help.
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Re: C3 Distributor Question
The shaft and gears are available from most any corvette parts house. Be sure to replace both shaft and gear at the same time or you will certainly regret it. The bushing that the cross shaft rides in is also prone to wear. You should check it. -
Re: C3 Distributor Question
There are many good rebuilders out there who could rehab your distributor. One that comes to mind is Nelson Specialties in N.C.Comment
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Re: C3 Distributor Question
There is also cavity at the top of your distributor that will need servicing. This cavity more than likely now contains dried out crud where when new contained lubricant. A new plastic seal will also be needed. If you do this yourself remember that the gear you remove from the bottom of the distributor is correctly installed when the mark on the gear is in line with the distributor rotor. Look for this alignment before you disassemble it and you can note how it has to be reassembled.Comment
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Re: C3 Distributor Question
Bill - be careful to not loose the autocam on the top of the shaft. GM made about 30+ as I recall different part numbers fo the shaft do to contour of the autocam, which affects the advance characteristics of your engine. While there are a couple aftermarket replacement shafts out there in the $60 range, they won't have the correct autocam. Your original can be removed from the original shaft, and the new shaft can have the existing autocam cut off and you can braze you original autocam on the new shaft. You also have to pay attention to alignment of the autocam with respect to the tang and cross hole on the gear end of the shaft. If this sounds too difficult to do yourself, depending on your abilities and facilities, you can have this done by someone like Dave Fiedler at TI Specialties....I think he would work on no TI Corvette distributors as well. Good luck!...CraigComment
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