<VV> A new (to me) distributor failure

[Rick Norris]

Back a few years I was at a local car show with a buddy who was waiting on 
his friend to arrive in a cuatom mini truck. He got a phone call from his 
friend to come rescue him as he was dead by the side of the road.
When they arrived without his truck my buddy said the distributor had seized 
up, spun around enough to jerk all the plug wires out and wrap them tightly 
around itself.
I think he may have a pic of that.
Oh, the guy bought the distributor used, never checked it, stabbed it in and 
went!

Rick Norris
#36 Sunoco Corvair
www.corvairalley.com


I'm sure someone else has seen one of these, but in my years of experience, 
this is the first time I've had a mechanical advance fail like this. This 
was on my daughter's 1964 Spyder. My guess is that one of the screws holding 
the advance weight cover backed out. Either the screw then wedged in a bad 
spot, or the cover deflected at high RPM. At some point the weight cover 
hung on something stationary (either the housing or the underside of the 
points plate). One end of the weight cover was still attached, so it 
proceeded to wrap the weight cover around the distributor cam shaft, until 
it ripped the other end of the weight cover free. As it wrapped around, it 
managed to clip the tips off 3 weight spring pins. Eventually the screw 
wedged itself between the weight base (part of the distributor shaft) and 
the housing, twisting the (firmly locked down) distributor housing around 
until the advance/retard pot hit the idler pully guard. The distributor cap
 also broke at one holddown screw location (presumed collateral damage). 
When it was all over, the point opening was about 1/8" (such that they would 
not close) even though it had been driven to that resting point - not sure 
what moved the point adjustment - the points plate does not appear to be 
seriously damaged.

Not sure of the exact sequence of events, but the car had symptoms of wimpy 
performance for some time (probably when the mechanical advance stopped 
functioning properly). It then stalled and would not restart. Resetting the 
ignition timing got it to restart and run a few miles, then it stalled 
again.

I've attached a couple of photos for your edification.
-- Doug Mackintosh
Corsa member since 1996
Corsa/NC member since 1996, Virtual Vairs member
Corvair owner 1969-1971 and 1996-on



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