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Hey gang! Going through replacing some of my distributor ignition components and seeing some interesting things with the aftermarket caps. Obviously Echlin and Standard are both derivatives of Standard Motor Products, so whether you get your parts from NAPA or O'Reilly, you're getting the same part. As I'm sure those of you who peruse the parts interchange have seen, there are no longer aftermarket replacements for a contact point set and condenser for the eight-cyllinder Autolite distributors fitted to engines smaller than the 356. The vendors have them and are priced to their otherwise lack of availability.

Caps and rotors, however, are still available, and they can be had from the likes of NAPA, O'Reilly, Brillman, etc. I recently picked up three rotors - two from NAPA (AL65 and AL6500) and one from O'Reilly (AL99), all exhibiting a huge amount of slop when placed on the distributor cam shaft. You can bend the metal tab in the D-clip, which does help, but it still wobbles around a bit on the shaft. There's no play in the shaft - it's rebuilt and basically new. An original IGP rotor fits tightly - no play at all.

I sent a note to SMP about the issue. Their Echlin and Standard products are made here, so I don't think its a "where it's made" issue. Hopefully something comes of it. In the meantime, is there a way to basically shim the rotor so it doesn't wobble all over? Or best to just stick with NOS parts for the time bbeing. Thanks!

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Had same problem cut small piece of paper fit inside rotor no loose fit. Also check that rotor contact is not hitting inside of cap . Problem is in my view lack of quality control on off sure parts.

I wouldn’t call it a quality control issue as much as that the larger part is probably correct for something from the 70’s or whatever, and it’s also close enough to fit this, so it gets grouped in. I can 3D print plastic parts to well within 0.020” diametral, and injection molded stuff should be far more consistent than even that. Shrinkage is expected so they will oversize slightly on the mold, but not 7% as shown.