VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1940 distributor remove

That is not a plug in the cam assembly, it is a felt wick. It will push out easily. The felt wick is to be oiled and the oil will capillary down between the cam and the shaft.

The worn plug is not needed. Originally there was a spring behind the grease cup fitting and the plug was to keep the spring from rubbing on the distributor shaft. When installing the grease cup fitting leave the spring and the plug out and you are good to go.

The spring loaded bakelite deal was to keep pressure on one side of the shaft to prevent shaft wobble thus keeping dwell stable. Was discontinued in the '50's.
The "air filter" maerial was a felt and supposed to be oiled every 5000 miles to keep the advance parts, etc. lubricated.

@ all. I love this Forum

So where can we get the right oil pump washer (1.666) to complete the job of reinstalling the distributor, or should we not be bothered?

Thanks, Mike

P.S. I use a slotted roll spring pin to replace the gear pin shown in Andre's picture. I cut its length, with a Dremel, to the O.D. of the bottom of the gear. What have others used? Is a roll spring pin stable enough, or should I use a coil spring, or something else, like even a nail??

I think the slotted roll spring is enough. Filling station sells this as replacement for the original. I used the old one. Fits strong enough and on the end I hammered it as original.

The backlash of my diameter is ~ 1,0 mm / 0.04". Think I will produce a washer myself..

The correct roll pin with the exact right length for the O.D. of the bottom of the gear is available at your local hardware store. I have used lots of them in the past so I purchase them by the box.

Seems that there was no washer a long Time

Another Question, were can i get the spring from the vaccum advance? or can you tell me the Dimmension. This spring in this Picture i mean



I lost her. Now I have found her again, but she has been overrun and broken

I havent got a distributor close to measure the spring you refer to but I think you may have the washer in the wrong place, on top of instead of under the lock down plate.
Tony

The washer is no longer at this place. Chev Nut told me a few Posts before, that there is no washer at this place

Hi Andre,

Here are some pictures of the part you need. Send me a P.M. if you want me to send one. I could also give you some rough measurements if you want to make your own.

Best wishes, Mike

P.S. I just want to add some more info on the spring. I bent a new one in about 15 minutes using my bench vise, a needle nose pliers and a small brass hammer. All my bends were backwards but it should not really matter? The old spring and the washer under it were both damaged from wear so I don't know how long the spring would have lasted. The damage can be seen in the pictures. The old spring was .030 in diameter the new one I got from Ace's was .038, it was way to stiff so I would look on line for a better spring. I'm pretty sure my new spring should work ok if I made it a little shorter.

Good luck, Mike

Hi Mike, yes thats it. How should i make my own?

An almost identical spring can be purchased at your local fastener supply or hardware store.

I found a lot Springs in the Web, but no one like this.

The key is attempting to make the two bends yourself on a spring of the same size. Could you bend the ends with a needle nose pliers that you welded a small piece of metal on creating a 90 degree edge?

The simplest way might be for me to send you one?

Good luck, Mike

Hi All,

Does anyone have a source for the washer mentioned in the above posts (part # 1.666)? I did see McMasters also supplies Thrust Washers. Is this specific type of washer also important to use on our distributors? The Filling Station stocks a Thrust Washer for 29 to 36 oil pumps, but does not list them for other years . Chev's of the 40's does not list the part.

The closest I have come to the thickness is a 1/16 on McMaster (over twice the thickness). How critical is this thickness issue? Do I need to find a machine shop to make me some washers the dimensions previously posted? I will call The Filling Station today to see the dimensions of their washer.

Thanks, Mike

I purchased a stainless steel thin washer at an Ace Hardware store.

I bought my '40 in 1963 and it had about 60k miles on it. It now has some 412k miles. I am still running the original distributor and the original cam. To the best of my knowledge the washer you are discussing has never been installed and I have not had any problems. Therefore, my assumption is that the washer is not too critical. I will not pull the dist. just to install the washer. I will install the washer the next time I have the dist. out. I am not advocating that anyone run their engine without the washer installed but am relating my experience.

If I had the distributor out I would install the washer.

I updated my above post on the SPRING on the vacuum advance. Gene's advise on where to get the washer that goes on the distributor shaft was helpful in that while ACE'S Hardware did not carry the stainless washer of the correct ID and thickness I was able to find what I needed from McMaster's by looking for stainless steel washers. The part # for a package of 10 is 97022A243. The washer is 3/64 (.045) in thickness, ID is 1/2 (.50), and the OD was 3/4 (.75) but not 7/8 that was recommended in previous posts.

I will probably install the washer because I have had a slight heart murmur (irregular miss) with the last two engines which might be a carb problem or a distributor one. 95% of the people I know would not even detect it. If the washer has absolutely no effect on the performance of the distributor then Bills article on 1931 Engine Timing is just "fake news." Another example of GM driving up the cost of cars.

Thanks, Mike

P.S. The washers arrived within 24 hrs. and were to the above specs. Installing one just got added to my todo list.

The oil pump thrust washer that goes between the top of the oil pump and the bottom of the distributor gear is there for a purpose. The thrust washer pushes up on the distributor gear which in turn raises the distributor shaft and weight plate assembly, thus keeping the bottom of the weight plate from turning against the inside bottom of the distributor housing. Without the thrust washer the weight plate will wear on the distributor body. I have had many, many 1929 and up distributors come into my shop for rebuilding and I found that the inside bottom of the distributor body was badly grooved and worn because the oil pump thrust washer was missing.

Today i am a little bit stupid. Please look at the pictures, the flywheel ist in the right position. But don't know about the distributor? The rotor should pointing to the nut from the cap, or not?

Next Question, wich one from the cap is for the 1st. Cylinder. Than clockwise 5,3,6,2,4 , correct?

The number one spark plug wire should be on the tower at the 5:30 position on the distributor cap and then the firing order goes in a clockwise position from there.

5:30? this one? Whats about the rotor Position?