Distributor Bent Shaft

[jeremywatco]

Troubleshooting a vacuum leak.. pulled intake, sealed everything up.. went to fire up and notice that the distributor housing was wobbling around while cranking.. pulled it... spun it by hand and sure enough the shaft must be bent somewhere.

Is this something I can just replace the shaft on a be good to go? Its a HEI dizzy that came with my ATK motor. I have been nothing but frustrated with it as it seems to hit and not clear anything. Already trimmed the hood for it but it also hits the heater elbow so you can only spin it like 1/4 of a turn... need more than a quarter? you have to pull whole thing out and move everything around. The wire connections have come apart on several occasions too.. this HEI I have is a pile of crap.

So I am NOT opposed at throwing this in the trash and grabbing something else. I previously had a Pertronix on my old motor and it ran fine and I still have that dizzy. This ATK motor says its a mid-80's 302 SBF. The Pertronix site doesnt list unit's for the 80's 302s.. not sure if there is a difference or not. I do know my Pertronix came with a steel gear which I'd need to swap out.. also could buy the HEI stye top to use the existing HEI plug wires.

Thoughts? Replace the shaft and move on? Throw the HEI in the trash and try to swap back to the pertronix unit?

 

[SteveL]

Those knock off hei dizzy are known for being crap. Order please one from DUI and be done with it. Also DUI recomends running an aftermarket pump drive due to ford ones being inconsistent.

 

[DirtDonk]

The DUI are top quality. But you would still have the same fitment issues due to the huge cap and coil assembly.
When you pulled the distributor, you verified that the shaft was indeed bent?
I’m sure the shafts are replaceable, if you can find the parts separately. But if it’s truly bad, there might be excessive wear to any bushings or bearings in the housing.
So that’s something to be aware of.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Chinese clone distributor. No, you are not getting a replacment shaft. It is a low grade aftermarket unit that has zero support.

Do yourself a favor, be happy you found it before it snapped like most of them do. Don't get another no name HEI. Get a decent ignition system.

 

[bronco italiano]

Those knock off hei dizzy are known for being crap. Order please one from DUI and be done with it. Also DUI recomends running an aftermarket pump drive due to ford ones being inconsistent.

I only get DUI now and precision oil pumps shafts. Yes they are big/ugly but they are quality

 

[gnpenning]

Can't you use the hei drive gear on your Pertronix .

If the hei has been working, you should have a better than average module, coil, cap and rotor. Some would keep them for spares for our square bodies.

 

[jeremywatco]

Going to make a run at the pertronix and see how it works. The gear setups were different. Ordered a Iron gear from summit and a HEI style cap for the pertronix. Once arrives i'll get it all setup and see how it works.

 

[bronco italiano]

Did you have a steel gear with a cast iron camshaft?
That could have ruined your camshaft gear. Get a good look in there.

 

[gr8scott]

DUI (Performance Distributors) doesn't just make HEI distributors. I bought their Duraspark distributor some time ago.
It came with a composite gear compatible with any cam. On the bottom edge they etched 23° @ 3000

Ford Duraspark – Performance Distributors

performancedistributors.com

Their is a small version HEI style cap for our Duraspark distributors if you don't like the large cap.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHAL162

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHFA157

 

[jeremywatco]

Did you have a steel gear with a cast iron camshaft?
That could have ruined your camshaft gear. Get a good look in there.

Negative... well this pertronix dizzy that I swapped into had a steel gear but i didn't run it. I ordered correct iron gear one from Summit.