67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

[Gerard F.]

I need to change the main shaft (again) on my original distributor for a 67 327/300. Distributor 1111194.

I ordered a generic one for 62-74 distributors, standard, not HP, and the football cam on top looks different.

Here's the original and replacement, side by side:



The one on the left is my original and has the number 165 stamped on the underside of the cam. The one on the right is the generic replacement, standard for 62-74, non HP. You'll notice the difference in the contour and sharpness around the corners.

The 1111194 distributor, according to the 67 Service Manual is a 30d @ 5100rpm distributor. It has the same centrifugal advance spec as the 1111196 distributor used on the 67 L79 SHP. With the same exact spec, one would assume the same shaft, weights and springs.

So the question is: Should I be looking for a SHP shaft instead, or one that more closely resembles the original?

What differences in idling or performance should I expect, if I use the replacement shaft pictured above.

It is funny that I ordered the same non-HP shaft about 6 years ago, and that shaft was exact to the original. Put it on and the car has run like a top since. Except that the tach drive gear just recently locked up, and destroyed the shaft gear.

[Clem Z.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

find a shop with a distributor machine and tell them what you want

[Bruce B.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Why do you have to change your distributor shaft "again"?

[Gerard F.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Why do you have to change your distributor shaft "again"?

Bruce,

Out of pure stupidity on my part.

About 6 years ago, I refurbed my original distributor(which had sat on the shelf for years with bunged up tach gear on the shaft).

Rather than drilling a hole for a bearing button in the housing for the tach drive gear, I carefully fitted a nylon button around the original worn pin which the tach gear bears against. This is pretty easy to do if you have the distributor on the bench. But here is nothing that holds the nylon button in place without the hole, except for the tach gear itself.

Put it on the car and the distributor (and tach) worked just fine, with a new tach drive gear.
About two years later, I changed the tach cable as the one I had on was incorrect and a little too long. Well in changing the tach cable, the nylon bushing fell out and got lost. I was just too lazy to pull the distributor to replace the button, figured I'd address it when the tach started acting up again.

Just last week, four years later and 6000 miles, with no signs of problems with the tach, it suddenly went dead. Found that the tach gear actually siezed up in it's housing, and that the shaft gear is bunged up again.

It could have been the lack of the button, or the lack of lubrication. So I'm kicking myself

This time I think I'm going to drill the housing and put a brass button in. I'll take the points off for the hole in the housing.

[David L.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Jerry,

According to my Delco Remy Service Parts Catalog (Sept. 15, 1973) the 1111194 distributor lists part # 1968080 for the shaft. The same shaft is listed for the 1111196 distributor.

My 1967 Chev. Parts catalog (July 1967) also list shaft # 1968080 in Gr. 2.372 for distributors # 1111194 & 1111196. My 1972 Corvette Parts Catalog list the 1968080 shaft for distributors # 1111194, 1111196, 1111490, and 1112020.

Dave

[Joe C.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Hi Jerry, Not the right football, and although I doubt that it will make much difference, Dave Fiedler can install your football on a brand new shaft. The originals, as you know, were brazed on, not swedged like many reproductions. Wayne Midkiff has a lot of information on these as
well.
Your #165 looks a lot like the #54 autocam pictured on the left.


Two ways to install the bronze button: 1) Drill partway through from the inside or 2) Drill all the way through and fill the hole before painting. Both methods are equally undetectable.








Above are the 1965 distributor specs. Notice that the 250/300 HP engines used a more aggressive timing program than in 1966/67. Base timing here is 10*-12* BTDC. I would suggest that you use this instead of the '66-'67 program.

[William C.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Several different issues here, firstly, I have successfully shortened the "stud" on the available brass "stop" allowing it to fit into a hole in the back of the distributor that does not go completely thru the housing. Secondly, as mentioned above, the autocam can be swapped between shafts, to reuse the original autocam. Thirdly, I'd seriously recommend a visit to a distributor machine to check/adjust the curve. Not many of them I've seen actually were close to the printed specs.

[Duke W.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

The contour of the "football" and weights is what gives the centrifugal advance its "curve" although some are linear. The '67 300 HP is not. You may recall from my San Diego seminar that I like the 30 degrees total centrifugal for the 300 HP engine, but install lighter springs to get it in by 3000-3500, and run 8 degrees nominal initial.

SHP engines are best with a few degrees less total centrifugal and more initial for the same 38 total. They can tolerate it and need it due to the higher exhaust gas dilution at low revs that slows flame propagation.

Look at the "Tale of Two Camshafts" article to see what John McRae got with the lightest springs in the kit.

Duke

[Bruce B.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Jerry,

Thanks for your candid reponse, It could help us all in the future.

Bruce B

[Gerard F.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Dave,

Thanks for the info. I found an NOS shaft on ebay with the part #1961402. The cam, from what I can see, looks exactly like my original. Can you look up what distributor this shaft is intended for.

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Dave,

Thanks for the info. I found an NOS shaft on ebay with the part #1961402. The cam, from what I can see, looks exactly like my original. Can you look up what distributor this shaft is intended for.

Jerry------


GM #1961402 was used for 1962-E64 Corvettes with distributors GM #1110984, 1110985, 1111024 and 1111062. These were used on 250, 300, 340, and 365 HP engines.

One more thing: if the autocam on the 1961402 shaft is exactly the same as the one on your 1968080 shaft then I do not understand how or why there would be any difference between the two shafts (i.e. why one part number would not have been used instead of two)?

[Dick W.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Jerry, if you want to keep your distributor housing looking original, after you drill and install the brass button, mix a little JB Weld and fill the hole. You can carefully "massage" the epoxy to look just like the housing. A little paint, and you are in business.

[Wayne M.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

. ..... Not the right football, and although I doubt that it will make much difference, Dave Fiedler can install your football on a brand new shaft. The originals, as you know, were brazed on, not swedged like many reproductions. Wayne Midkiff has a lot of information on these as well.
Your #165 looks a lot like the #54 autocam pictured on the left.



Above are the 1965 distributor specs. Notice that the 250/300 HP engines used a more aggressive timing program than in 1966/67. Base timing here is 10*-12* BTDC. I would suggest that you use this instead of the '66-'67 program.

Joe; others --- just a word about those two footballs in the pic above; both are from K66 distr's. For some reason, the TI units (per P&A catalogs) seem to take a different shaft than the equivalent h.p. points distr's.

The one on the left is from a 1974 service 1111157 with a 4K9 band; the one on the right is from a tach drive Camaro [OTC ?] racing distr. 1111267__9D14.

[Gerard F.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Jerry------


GM #1961402 was used for 1962-E64 Corvettes with distributors GM #1110984, 1110985, 1111024 and 1111062. These were used on 250, 300, 340, and 365 HP engines.

One more thing: if the autocam on the 1961402 shaft is exactly the same as the one on your 1968080 shaft then I do not understand how or why there would be any difference between the two shafts (i.e. why one part number would not have been used instead of two)?

Joe,

I think we are going to find out what the differences are, as I bought it and should have it next week. Although I couldn't see the cam head on, the seller said it was stamped 54W on the top of the cam.

There is a post above (by Joe C.) which shows a photo of a #54 cam. That #54 looks exactly like my original shaft with #165 stamped on the back.

I figured that since I have my original, I could modify the new one to be exact. If it is totally off, I could send it back.

Maybe the part number difference is in the pin or collar on the underside of the cam, or the cam orientation on the shaft.

I wonder if you, or others, have the maximum centrifugal advance spec for the above distributor numbers. My 1111194, and the 1111196, both have 30d @ 5100rpm. I'm assuming that the maximum advance is controlled by the geometry of the cam, weights and pin on the bottom of the cam.

[Joe L.]

Re: 67 Distributor shaft- Have I got the right one?

Joe,

I think we are going to find out what the differences are, as I bought it and should have it next week. Although I couldn't see the cam head on, the seller said it was stamped 54W on the top of the cam.

There is a post above (by Joe C.) which shows a photo of a #54 cam. That #54 looks exactly like my original shaft with #165 stamped on the back.

I figured that since I have my original, I could modify the new one to be exact. If it is totally off, I could send it back.

Maybe the part number difference is in the pin or collar on the underside of the cam, or the cam orientation on the shaft.

I wonder if you, or others, have the maximum centrifugal advance spec for the above distributor numbers. My 1111194, and the 1111196, both have 30d @ 5100rpm. I'm assuming that the maximum advance is controlled by the geometry of the cam, weights and pin on the bottom of the cam.

Jerry------

The maximum centrifugal advance specs I have for the GM #1110984, 1110985, and 1111024 are 24 degrees @ 4600 RPM.

Also, I'm sure that the distributor you have with the shaft you just obtained could be configured to your exact spec on a distributor machine assuming it's not right as-is.

Delco-Remy manufactured distributors by using specific components that would achieve the desired advance characteristics. I seriously doubt that any performance checking of the finished product occurred. In other words, a distributor was assumed to meet specifications when certain components were used in its assembly. The same thing could be done today if one had access to all the parts once available, but all of these parts are long-since discontinued and, as far as I know, not reproduced. Today, though, any original distributor advance specifications can be achieved by "custom curving" a distributor using a distributor machine.