The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay New production stovebolt distributor?

I just ran across an ad on Ebay for what appears to be a NEW, not rebuilt stovebolt point type distributor. Yes, it's made offshore, but at the price, it might be worth buying one to see how the quality compares to a 70 year old OEM item. I've been known to swap OEM electronic components into a Chinese knockoff HEI distributor pretty successfully- - - - -maybe the same thing could be done with this one?

www.ebay.com/itm/174173998986?

Jerry

Jerry - A little hard to tell from the one picture but does that distributor mirror the "tall cap" or "short cap" design???

It appears to be the tall cap version, and the year of manufacture interchange listed in the ad also suggests that's the case. The telltale sign is the length of the spring clips that secure the cap- - - - -they're considerably longer on the "tall cap" model. The distributor cap pictured in the ad is definitely the tall version.
Jerry

Let us know how it works out. Certainly worth a shot at that price.

Even if it’s garbage as a total unit, there are probably parts on the thing that are hard or expensive to source by themselves. Breaker plate, side clips, etc.

Can’t quite tell from the pics. Did they eliminate the grease cup?

Jerry, you've posted previously about incompatibility between distributor gears and steel vs. cast camshafts. Any idea whether this distributor would be usable with a steel cam? It does say 53-62 engines, which I recall would have cast cams. I know it shouldn't be too hard to change the distributor gear, but would it be necessary?

Looks like it still has the boss for the grease cup. That's probably a "you provide it" part.

That gear is made out of recycled beer cans and gummy bears. Universally compatible.

Looks to be made of aluminum. How would that hold up with the vacuum advance moving that aluminum against the cast ron block back and forth a thousand times a day?

I would have to do the old machinist's "spark test" on the gear to make an educated guess about its composition. Gently touch the part to a bench grinder wheel in a location that won't compromise it, and look at the color and shape of the sparks the wheel throws. Bright colored feathery-looking sparks are high carbon steel, while orange sparks without little or no "feather" indicate soft steel or cast iron/steel. The problems arise when a steel gear (early 235 or 216) is run against a cast iron cam. The hard gear machines away the cam metal. A cast iron gear can be run against a cast or a steel cam without any problem. It's also possible to run a bronze gear (a 230/250 six racing part) against a steel cam. Bronze wears quickly when driving a very high volume racing oil pump, but it lasts about 3 days past forever on a street machine with normal oil pressure.
Jerry

I bought a HEI distributor, too wth Chinese components. If you can interchange some parts from your old piece it is worth. Aluminium and steel components seems to be good.
What I found out, is that the distributor cap plastic material is cheap "hard" plastic compared with the old part. I live in germany and due to shipping the distributor was damaged (cap comes with a hole at side). I think the original plastic cap is much stronger.

Sven

When purchasing a new cap, what do you tell the parts store? In other words, what year make and model do you buy for since the cap is obviously not for a 1947 Chevy?

I know the year and typ of the engine in the truck. With e.g. castnumbers I made a documentation of important parts.

Any cap and rotor for a 56-61 car or truck with a 235 engine should fit. The same cap and rotor was used on the 56 and newer 261s, but even mentioning that engine to the average keyboard jockey at the local parts store will give him a case of hives! You'd have to specify a C-30 or bigger truck to even find that engine listed for it.
Jerry

Looking at the blue cap in the photo, it has the exposed "male" type plug wire connectors on the terminals. Wouldn't the original points style caps have the internal "female" style terminals?

Otto - The distributor isn't an original style. It's a replica HEI unit with the associated HEI style distributor cap with coil in the top.

Right, so do you just ask for any cap for a GM I-6 from 1974 and up?

The engine is from 1964.At this time Chevrolet C10 / C20 used the 292cui I6 engine. With this most of the online shops can offer parts and HEI distributors (repros) are available.
(in Germany it´s very difficult to find parts for I6, most dealer offer parts for V8´s)

The cap in the photo is on a Chinese copy of the HEI distributor for a 250 or 292 engine-- - - 1975 to mid-1980s.
Jerry

That is the same distributor I've twice converted for the 216/235/261:

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...for-stovebolt-lt-100-see-how#Post1543257

Works and runs very well and uses standard GM parts (including the distributor cap).

Yes you´re right. Comming back to the question of the thread. For me: Yes some cheap distributors are worth if you know what to modifie/interchange.

Jon:
I opend a thread some day ago:

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...i-distributor-shaft-question#Post1569269

Do you know why there are splitted and solid shaft? Did GM produce engine where the shafts are not aligned (and you need a splitted shaft)?

Hello Sven...no, I do not know the answer to that question. Sorry. Maybe Jerry knows and maybe he has not seen that question yet.

I believe the split shaft was used to adapt a part GM made for a different engine so they did not need to make a correct-length part for the 250 and 292. There is no good reason to have a 2-piece shaft, as the distributor and oil pump are in a straight line with each other. When I rebuild that type of distributor to use on the earlier engine with a point type distributor, I make a correct-length shaft and eliminate the flex joint. I can see no good reason to have a flexible coupling there- - - -it's just another potential point of failure, one that would cause a loss of oil pressure and a locked-up engine.
Jerry

Th ank´s

OK- - - -just couldn't resist any longer- - - - -I bought one of the new distributors in the link I posted, just to see what kind of quality it is. Compared to a well-worn item 70 years old, these things might be worth having, even if a little bit of tinkering is involved to put them into working condition. It looks like the shaft tension spring, grease cup, and plastic thrust washer will need to be acquired, and some sort of vacuum advance unit will need to be sourced to complete the assembly.

I'm working on designing an adapter bracket to use the same vacuum advance chamber as the HEI distributors on the stovebolt rotating distributor housing. Those items are much more available, and a fraction of the cost of the OEM advance chambers.
Jerry

The new distributor arrived today. It has a cast aluminum (not cast iron) housing, and it appears to be an accurate, well-machined copy of a tall cap point type distributor. It includes a cap, rotor, points, condenser, and a drive gear (alloy unknown- - -appears to be steel). There is a VERY poorly machined grease cup- - - -probably needs to be replaced with a better quality one. I have not done a detailed disassembly yet to see if there's a spring and a wear button under the grease cup, or to inspect the centrifugal advance parts under the breaker plate. No model number stamped on the breaker plate.

This one looks like it will be a suitable replacement for a well-worn original item, especially at the price. It will also serve very well as a base for a conversion to a HEI pickup coil and reluctor setup, with the trigger module mounted on a remote heat sink, and a Chrysler type round HEI coil that resembles the OEM point type coil. That setup will function with the same output and reliability as the big cap HEI while resembling an original distributor. An OEM vacuum advance can be fitted, or it's possible that newer style, less expensive vacuum advance parts could be adapted to provide the same "rotating housing" operation as an original stovebolt distributor.
Jerry

Jerry,
I am not a metallurgist. How well do you believe the aluminum housing will hold up in the distributor hole in the cast iron block given that it will be rotated by the vacuum advance who knows how many times an hour of stop and go driving? Especially if the hole in the block has some age on it.

The shaft doesn't rotate in the block, does it?

With as much splash oil as it's exposed to off the crankshaft, the housing will probably outlive all of us old geezers. It's not like we're driving these old rigs 3,000 miles a month any more!
Jerry

No, the whole distributor housing moves a little from the motion of the vacuum advance. It would take about "forty-leven years" to wear that aluminum housing enough to cause problems. Think about aluminum pistons running in a cast iron cylinder block for years with minimal wear, under much worse conditions.
Jerry

I guess I've never paid close attention to what part is moving. I just thought the top roatated on the shaft. I'll have to look at it while reving the engine.

Jerry,

I am putting together my shopping list for starting the '54 235 in my 1940 Frankentruck, 12 volt project.

Since the distributor that came with the truck is a "short cap" model, I will be replacing it with a "tall cap" style from some source.

What are your thoughts at this point with regard to the new production distributor? With my significant amount of ignorance...should I give it a try? Are there parts from the short cap style distributor that I have on hand that I might adapt to the new one if the old ones might be superior?

If you have not had time to evaluate it, I understand.

Thanks!

I'm curious as to the advance mechanism under the points plate, so anytime you get around to it Jerry, be glad to know about that.

A forensic teardown is on the "to do" list- - - - -and I'll be happy to post a picture report when that happens. My Sun distributor tester isn't in operating shape right now, so I won't be able to report on whether or not the repop distributor matches the advance curve of the OEM type, but I just happen to know a crusty old Marine with a 261 engine who just might be persuaded to let me swap distributors with him for a while. My Innova delay flash timing light can be used to plot an advance curve for a running engine, which will be at least as accurate as a distributor tester- - - -maybe even better.
Jerry