Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Jack's comments about pinging you can't hear are very interesting and I would like to hear more about that, particularly how do you identify it. As far as vac advance units are concerned, I had mine ('56 Patrician - Delco) rebuilt in New Zealand for a total cost of AUD$63, including postage to Australia and it seems to work fine - it came back looking almost new (www.qualityrebuilds.com. Not being a purist I also fitted a Petronix electronic iginition kit as well and everything seems to work OK. I run it on 95RON petrol and can't hear any pinging, which is why I ask about the pinging you can't hear. Cheers, John Payne

I got back to my Distributor work today and ran into a problem right off. I thought the breaker plate would come out without removing the drive gear and the shaft, but, it looks as though that is not the case. Am I wrong about that.

Yes you are. All you need to do is remove the felt from the top of the shaft where the rotor goes, and under that is a little "C" clip, you'll see it, that attaches the points cam to the main shaft. Remove the clip, and the breaker plate and cam will come off as one unit. If you want to separate it further, that's a little more involved.

Is the "C" clip in the hole at the top of shaft where the rotor fits, or on the dhaft just above the cam lobe? I can't see a clip at either place,even after cleaning it and using a magnifing glass. Looking at the drawing plate 21 the only "C" clip I see is on the shaft below the breaker plate.

It's on the shaft INSIDE the cam lobe, basically. it's under the piece of felt under the rotor. Once you remove the rotor, you see a hole in the upper shaft. In this hole is a piece of felt, and under that felt is the clip. It's not exactly a "C" clip, it's a spring clip shaped like a "C" with two prongs sticking up. You have to spread the prongs to get it out. It's a PITA, but it's doable.

I was afraid you were going to say that. Guess I'll have to take it out into the bright daylight and hopefully I can see the blasted thing. About three years ago I spent days trying to get one of those out of a 750K brake master cylinder and that master cylinder was AHOAL bigger than that rotor hole.

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Well, it's almost Halloween and I'm here to scare you! It is easier to get out than it sounds, I've done it several times while making Packard HEI distributors and doing conversion testing.

Thanks for the adrenaline boost! Looks like I'll have to sharpen the ends of the tweezers since I haven't seen any micro sized needle nose. If I can see I'll get it out!

Maybe I'm confused here, but if you want to take off the breaker plate, just remove the advance, the two screws that hold on the cap clips, the one screw halfway round between the two clips, and the terminal block. That comes off by undoing the nut on the inside of the distributor. All that takes just a couple of minutes on the bench. Your breaker plate will then just lift out complete with points, condensor, etc. If you want remove the breaker cam, then you have to do as Eric is describing, but I've almost never had to do that for any normal distributor refurb.

Interesting factoid a bit off thread: I've never needed to replace bushings in a V-8 dist as they are lubed with an oil cup and wick. I have always needed to replace bushings on the same dist. on a 53/54 with the grease cup.

A lot of funky idles on the older cars come from a loose upper bushing on the dist. Quick test: turn in your grease cup while the engine is running. If the engine speed changes your bushings are loose.(Dwell changes as the cam moves sideways.)

I've never been able to remove the breaker plate on any distributor without taking out the point cam as well, since the point cam is larger than the hole in the breaker plate.