The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rock Auto Dizzy closeout

Email came this morning that rock auto is closing out Cardone 301609 remanufactured point distributor, oil filters and a few other minor 1954 stovebolt parts

Chuck

Thanks Chuck! The closeout price of just $85.79 + shipping is pretty nice. No idea how many they have in stock?

Here's the direct web page link for the sale item for anyone interested.

Can you list the other things they are indicating are closeouts? I can track down the direct links and post them too if you can at least give me the rockauto part number.

Update Note - For anyone considering ordering one of these "close out dizzy's", please take a moment and read this report from Bolter Ron "Dusty53".

He ordered one of the rockauto part# 301609 distributors and did not end up receiving a "remanufactured" distributor looking like the one pictured in their web page.

Please read Ron's report for yourself, before dropping any $$$ on these offered "remanufactured" dizzy's and you'll understand what is really being offered.

Ok, I've been called out and yes it was the "close out" from RockAuto. Now, to be very clear, RockAuto did communicate that one of their Suppliers made a listing error. RockAuto promptly refunded my money and yes, they told me to not return it. They made it right and to me that is a very, very important part of the story. Yes, I will do business with them in the future.

No calling out my friend. Thanks for the added info that rockauto made things right Ron!

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but a friend sold me one of those in a lot of 235 parts. I can not say if it was from Cardone, but at the same time I can't say it wasn't. He had planned to use it in a rebuild but decided on a 350 instead. It was the correct original style but it had only been bead blasted, sprayed with a scant bit of black paint and put into a box with new points, a rotor and a generic condenser. The little grease appliance had been removed and a plastic plug had been threaded in the hole. The important point is no rebuilding had been done whatsoever. I considered offering it here for sale but the shaft is so loose I don't believe it will produce stable results until it is fixed correctly by a machinist like Jerry. I decided if they had left the grease appliance it may have masked the looseness of the shaft (but of course it still would not have run true...I just wouldn't have noticed it as quickly).

That sucks to hear if that dizzy was from Cardone. I have had very good experiences with their remanned parts, including a rebuilt dizzy for the Galaxie. That Reman Cardone dizzy has been in the car since 2012 and runs perfectly. I had to send the original back as a core.

Jon, there's a pretty good fix for a wobbly shaft/housing fit that involves boring the top of the housing for a Torrington needle bearing, and adding a hardened steel sleeve at the top of the shaft ground to be a close fit to the bearing. I make the sleeve from water-hardening drill rod and shrink fit it to the shaft. Then a grease fitting is used in the hole where the grease cup, spring and plastic disc were installed originally. A tiny squirt with a grease gun about once a year keeps the bearing well-lubed.
Jerry

We talked about that some years ago, Jerry. I think I sent you 2 or 3 old distributors and a small box of misc dist parts around that time...the years pass too fast, you know. The distributor was sort of a throw-in to a group of other 235 parts and since I'm using an HEI I didn't need it but kept it to use along with the "condenser project" which was ongoing at that time. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Before a bunch of medical issues (mostly my wife's) started nibbling away at my shop time, I was experimenting with "blueprinting" a stovebolt distributor- - - -eliminating the shaft wobble with a needle bearing, and using a long dial indicator extension through the insulator hole in the housing to exactly match the lobe lift and degree spacing of the six cam lobes by touching them up with a set of machinist's needle files. It's pretty impressive to see how much angular error there is on a stock distributor, especially one with a little housing wear. One degree of point opening error changes the spark timing at the cylinder by two degrees!

Back in the 1950s, I used to watch my father convert dual point distributors for Lincoln Zephyr V-12 engines to run on flathead Ford V8s for his dirt track race car. He ended up with each set of points running a separate coil, and powering 4 cylinders. That involved a LOT of modifications, but the end result was a HOT blue spark 1/2" long- - - - -from a 6 volt ignition system!
Jerry

Dang, I bought one of those a couple of weeks back. Look good to me, maybe if I pull it every few weeks and give it a shot of slippery elm juice, I won’t need the brass sleeve. Being a new restorer sure has its cost. I have buckets of PVC fittings but never what I need. Hahaha

Shade Baby