Servicing the distributor upper bearing oil reservoir on a '64 C2

[Daniel B.]

Do you have to remove the distributor from the engine to refill the upper bearing oil reservoir?
Thanks
Dan

[Duke W.]

Re: Servicing the distributor upper bearing oil reservoir on a '64 C2

Yes, you must remove and disassemble for a complete overhaul, which is not that hard, especially if the bushings are not excessively worn and need to be replaced. (There should be virtually no perceptible shaft side play if they are okay.) The procedure is in the '63 Shop manual and later COMs. I started a thread in Dec. 2012 - L-79 dist. blueprint overhaul, which offers some tips.

One thing not covered in any of the service literature is the orientation of the dimple on the drive gear. It must point the same direction as the rotor tip or you probably won't be able to get the initial timing dialed before the VAC hits the manifold or coil/wire bracket.

Duke

[John D.]

Re: Servicing the distributor upper bearing oil reservoir on a '64 C2

Duke, Drive gear dimple should match up with the long vertical seam on the distributor case also.
Back in early 90's at an NCRS National in Warren, MI an assembly line worker told us this info. He said the distributor cap had all the wires hanging
on it. The worker lined the dimple on the bottom gear with the seam on the bottom distributor case.. He then knew what you said. The rotor was pointing to #1.
He then dropped the distributor into the hole. Using his rubber mallet to smack the passenger side of the vacuum advance to pick up that one tooth that so many have trouble doing today.
That's why you see so many original vacuum advance with a dent in them. I never forgot this. After the event Dr. Mike McCagh hired him to go to his house in Cumberland for a seminar. The assembly line worker told us the same thing again.
The same guy also stamped engine pads. But I won't go there. John

[Duke W.]

Re: Servicing the distributor upper bearing oil reservoir on a '64 C2

John Hinckley has reported that Corvette distributor assembly drawings indicate that the dimple should be pointing the same direction as the rotor tip, and like me, he has never seen any mention of this in service literature.

I still have the 201 15 VAC of my 340 HP SWC, and it has a dimple where it was jammed up against the manifold, but that was my doing. Circa '65 I removed it to try and find out why the ignition broke up at as little as 4500 revs. Since there was nothing in the '63 shop manual about the dimple orientation there was a 50-50 change of getting it right, which means, in reality, a 100 percent of getting it wrong.

It took me two more R & Is of the dist. to notice the dimple and the 13 tooth count, and Voila! I figured it out, but I've never heard that the dimple was 180 degrees out when assembled by Delco.

I replaced the 201 15 VAC about a year later with the 236 16 (along with the weights and springs from the 365/375 HP engines) when I figured out the "Two-Inch Rule" and realized that since the 201 15 didn't pass it, that was the source of the idle stability and stalling problem, and the new weights springs made a lot more torque, which was very useful with a 3.08 axle and CR trans in hilly Seattle.

Duke