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Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:34 pm

I was driving and the engine died, I found that the little cup that holds down the ball bearing to the distributor plate with the points on it was gone and the ball bearing was on the other side of the distributor

Is there anywhere I can just order that cup from? I don't want to have to buy a new distributor, I don't have the cash for it, but I need this car to be running as it is my daily driver. Where do I go from here? Any help is appreciated.

Mon Feb 09, 2015 6:30 pm

Perhaps the "cup" thing is down inside the distributor- I am guessing you will need to take it apart to repair it so you may find it down in there. My guess is someone rebuilt it and didn't seat it properly where it attaches to the plate underneath

I have think i have one to send u if you don't find it

Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:17 pm

EasternNotch wrote: Perhaps the "cup" thing is down inside the distributor- I am guessing you will need to take it apart to repair it so you may find it down in there. My guess is someone rebuilt it and didn't seat it properly where it attaches to the plate underneath

I have think i have one to send u if you don't find it
:oops: That person would be me... Perhaps I should do a better job rebuilding my distributor next time... Oh well, I ordered a new distributor from Autozone, it's a Cardone reman one, I know the quality is spotty, but it has a lifetime warranty, so I'll take my chances.

Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:26 pm

tysonhemelstrand wrote: I know the quality is spotty, but it has a lifetime warranty, so I'll take my chances.
GEX engines come with a warranty also. ;)

Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:03 pm

tysonhemelstrand wrote: EasternNotch wrote: Perhaps the "cup" thing is down inside the distributor- I am guessing you will need to take it apart to repair it so you may find it down in there. My guess is someone rebuilt it and didn't seat it properly where it attaches to the plate underneath

I have think i have one to send u if you don't find it
:oops: That person would be me... Perhaps I should do a better job rebuilding my distributor next time... Oh well, I ordered a new distributor from Autozone, it's a Cardone reman one, I know the quality is spotty, but it has a lifetime warranty, so I'll take my chances.

I've had excellent results from Cardone on these distributors and brake/ clutch hydraulics as well.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:11 am

Quote: :oops: That person would be me... Perhaps I should do a better job rebuilding my distributor next time... Oh well, I ordered a new distributor from Autozone, it's a Cardone reman one, I know the quality is spotty, but it has a lifetime warranty, so I'll take my chances.

I hope that works out- don't throw away the malfunctioning one as it can be repaired. Or do they take it as a core?

Post up a couple pix of the reman one when you get it

Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:18 am

Tram wrote:
I've had excellent results from Cardone on these distributors and brake/ clutch hydraulics as well.
Well it is reassuring to have Tram approval on this one :lol:

EasternNotch wrote:
I hope that works out- don't throw away the malfunctioning one as it can be repaired. Or do they take it as a core?

Post up a couple pix of the reman one when you get it
The core charge was like 5 dollars, and there's no way I'm giving up an otherwise good distributor for 5 bucks :lol:
And absolutely, I'll give a full review on how the install goes, how it works, what parts they used, quality of the job, the whole shebang. Anything I can do to give back to the community.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:22 am

On another note, does anyone know if a distrubutor from, say, a 1973 type 3 will play nice with an otherwise stock 1969 FI Motor? Is it as simple as changing the timing to the 1973 standard of 5*BTDC? The Cardone one is listed as the Bosch part number for a 1969 dizzy, but it'd be nice to know about this just in case.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:00 am

For the most part, they are interchangeable across the production- and you should set timing to 28 degrees at 2500 rpm- instead of the idle setting.

As far as "play well together" goes - you can look all those specs up, then compare differences with vac advance vrs centrifugal advances :lol: :lol: OR just put it in, set at 28 and see how it drives.

OR you can do what triker Jack does and set it by ear. By the way Jacks on his 10th engine in 5 years. Did I mention he's a little hard headed.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:45 am

I only have a static timing light, don't have the dough for a strobe, so I'm stuck with static timing. So do I follow the static timing setting for the year of my engine or do I follow the setting for the year of my distributor?

Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:00 am

The little ball cups are fairly interchangeable. Also make note of the installed tension at the sotted hole and screw of the donor part you get.

These spring steel parts work harden with age and heat. They take a "set". If you install it with significantly more down force/tension than it had...it will crack almost every time. Ray

Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:29 am

raygreenwood wrote: The little ball cups are fairly interchangeable. Also make note of the installed tension at the sotted hole and screw of the donor part you get.

These spring steel parts work harden with age and heat. They take a "set". If you install it with significantly more down force/tension than it had...it will crack almost every time. Ray

Yeah, I figured I would just wait for a really trashed dizzy to go up on the classifieds for cheap and salvage the ball cup from it, but for now, I'm not quite so confident in my work on rebuilding my distributor so I'm just going to use the cardone one while I go back over my work. The only gripe I have with the Cardone one is that the condenser, points, and vacuum can likely won't be Bosch, but I do have a good vacuum can and condenser on my old dizzy, so that just leaves the generic points which should be fine until I order another bunch of repair parts in a few weeks. I'm just appalled that I could walk into an autozone at 9PM on a monday and order a part and get told it would be at the store on wednesday morning :shock: with no shipping charges. Talk about speed!

Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:57 am

tysonhemelstrand wrote: On another note, does anyone know if a distrubutor from, say, a 1973 type 3 will play nice with an otherwise stock 1969 FI Motor? Is it as simple as changing the timing to the 1973 standard of 5*BTDC? The Cardone one is listed as the Bosch part number for a 1969 dizzy, but it'd be nice to know about this just in case.

Your 69 distributor will have a better advance curve.
You could try contacting Jim Adney, and see if he's got a points plate, or could even rebuild your old distributor.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:18 am

A photo of your pulley might help Id if it has ever been changed. Then do the TDC test to verify if you have a true TDC, Any degree scale will help verify your timing mark. There are several pulleys out there with marks all over the place.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:19 am

Bobnotch wrote:
Your 69 distributor will have a better advance curve.
You could try contacting Jim Adney, and see if he's got a points plate, or could even rebuild your old distributor.
The Cardone dizzy is listed as being 1968-1973, but it does list the Bosch part number as being 0 231 163 001, and I'm fairly certain that's the 1968-1969 distributor. I can always check the part number when it arrives, if it's not the right distributor, I can just steal the ball cup from it and put it on my old distributor.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:20 am

williamM wrote: A photo of your pulley might help Id if it has ever been changed. Then do the TDC test to verify if you have a true TDC, Any degree scale will help verify your timing mark. There are several pulleys out there with marks all over the place.
What exactly is the TDC test?

Tue Feb 10, 2015 1:16 pm

Also, do they make degree pulleys for type 3s? I'm not sure about a beetle one, the Type 3 ones seem to be of a different form factor.

Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:50 pm

I dont know if you are still looking for that part, but I think I may have found a points plate for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bosch-Distributor-Plate-1-...27f8b227ff

Im pretty sure thats the right one for an FI distributor but you should double check the part number.

Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:18 am

chaosisme wrote: I dont know if you are still looking for that part, but I think I may have found a points plate for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bosch-Distributor-Plate-1-...27f8b227ff

Im pretty sure thats the right one for an FI distributor but you should double check the part number.
Thanks! I don't need it now, but I'll look at it in case I want to stash it for later use, I hear Type 3 owners are supposed to hoard parts :lol:

Wed Feb 11, 2015 1:12 pm

Just got a call from Autozone telling me my dizzy is in! I'm going to pick it up in an hour or so, I'll post pictures tonight and test it!