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Were it me I'd return the allegedly new rotor to the vendor and then go to NAPA and buy a new one; AL 62 if I remember correctly and as of recently they were still available. When installing make sure the little metal clip inside the rotor gives a snug fit to the shaft!!

Agreed, your 'new' rotor should be in better condition and free of rust. Can the steel insert be removed from your old rotor and placed in the new one?

(o{}o)

Great suggestion, Jdub.

There really should not be dirt or rust going into the distributor, and this part was both.I switched the clips using an awl. The rusted one came out very easily. And the clip, as you pointed out, Dave, needs to hold the rotor securely. A rusty one is less likely to do that.

I'm not going to return the rotor, but I'd suggest that the Kanter shipping guy do a quick visual inspection of rotors in their tune-up kits before they go out the door.

Last night thinking about it, I realized that there's no electrical connection through that clip. That was my initial concern.

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The clip and snug fit is really critical. I had a friend with a 41 180 LeBaron that installed an allegedly new rotor without noticing the clip was missing. Apparently it allowed the rotor to float enough to fire the wrong cylinder and the result was an air filter blown to smithereens and some resultant carburetor and hood damage.

I'm looking for the specs for a 356 fan belt, 351106. Mine is a bit too long and the generator can't move out far enough to get it tight.

Joe, try John Ulrich in El Sobrante. He sells the belts, and may be willing to share the dimensions of his with you.

I installed one of his belts on my 47's 356. It was a struggle to get on as it was wide and the pulleys were deep. As I recall, it fit well after getting on, but wished it had been a bit longer to ease the installation.

(o{}o)

47 uses the same belt and the repro belt John Ulrich had made works well. If anything it was a bit snug getting it on but once over the pulley the clamp spot is about halfway on the slot so plenty of adjustment left.

Since he went to the trouble of having the belts repro'd no idea what if anything off the shelf is available or how the price would compare. If you don't get a number for a modern replacement the repro might be the best option.

If it was a struggle for you, just imagine what it will be for me, but John is a respected vendor and I've bought several items from him, so I'll order a new belt from him.

I've just finished doing a tune-up on the Duchess. It took me several days because of my 3-times-wrong and 1-time-right method of learning. I am now an expert tune-up person on a 356. With Bob Earl's help and some studying, I now really understand the relationship between the engine and ignition. Also I can pull and replace the distributor. I had the most practice doing that.

I bought a laser RPM tester (I'm right at 450 rpm on idle) and a self-powered (2 D-cells) timing light, proformparts.com. Once that was successfully done (incredible difference), I reinstalled my Stromberg AAV-26 carburetor, the one with the choke spring nobody has, or more accurately, will not sell to you on its own. (I know, Howard, you think that's a dumb idea, but I love my Stromberg. Also, it doesn't have that awful bolt in the corner closest to the manifold that the Carter has.

Back in the day the design engineers passed the plans over the transom to manufacturing and let them 'figure it out.'Maintenance? No one really cared. If you could bolt something on when the engine was upside down and in your lap on the assembly line, no one cared about how the mechanics could get to it, let alone restorers who didn't have those special factory tools. It's different today. But I can tell you, if you do something enough times, the expletives eventually diminish and you learn the tricks, like that hidden, right-hand clamp screw for the distributor. Why did the grease cup have to go right next to it?

I also replaced the radiator hose. I had problems this summer with it spitting and had to be tightened on several occasions to stop it. It was 2", which is wrong. I replaced it with a 1-3/4" and the correct vintage clamps.

So now the belt (I remember now that corner at the bottom) will be a challenge. But it needs to be done.

Thanks for the info.
Joe

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Joe

I had a 41 160 for about 5 years. The accessibility on most things under the hood of 41s is near non existent. To replace the belt, I finally put a little soap or some such on the belt and on the frame member right by the pulley. I took a long stick (actually it was a wooden stake that Owen has to keep his tomatoes up, this operation was performed on the street in front of his house) and pushed it through the too narrow gap. Looping it around the pulleys and adjusting it was pretty easy after that

Regards

John Harley

Thanks for the tip, John. You probably saved me a week of frustration before I came around to that idea.