The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop dist. luber

does anybody have a exploded view of the lube canister screwed into the side of a 1956 235 chevy distributor?

I doubt it. It is just 2 pieces, the container and the cap. Take off the cap and you have the exploded view.

I sure thought that little grease cup thing was discontinued WAY before '56! Maybe not, huh.

Stuart

The lubricant cup on the distributor was used to the end of the run of the 235/261 engines (1962/63).

There is a spring another small part inside the cup's "stem" (a plug or a washer - a different part for different years - see links below).
Here is a diagram from the 29-54 Master Parts Catalog and slightly different diagram for 55-57 in the 29-57 MPC. (thank you, Keith Hardy).

You can still buy these new from McMaster Carr.
DG

Denny,

You can still buy what from M-C: the distributor assembly and/or the lubricant/grease cup? What is/are the parts number(s)?

Thanks,
Tim

Just to be clear, after the lube assembly is removed there is a spring that pushes against a fiber disc which runs against the shaft. This keeps play out of the shaft for accurate dwell.

Yepper, got that right Dave, spring and phenolic disk behind the grease cup. You can bet that a lot of the discs ended up at the bottom of the gunk tank and never found their way back to the distributor.
Tim, I thought we were talking about the grease cups???
http://www.mcmaster.com/#1112k41/=2pm3dv 1112K41, $5.20ea.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks for the part number, Denny.

I was talking about the grease3 cup but though the spring and disc were part of it. the disc in this truck was broken are they being sold still? and thanks for all the help

anybody sell that phenolic disk/plug?

still trying to buy the disk/plug

you may have to make one out of material that may be available at the local hardware store. Should be about 1/16-1/8 thick and the diameter should be small enough to allow it to go into the grease cup hole where it's held against the distributor shaft by a spring. good luck!

After reading this thread I knew I didn't have that grease cup on my dist. Looked again today. Sometime over the years my cup was replaced with a zerk fitting. As per Pre-68 Daves comment.....IF the spring and phenolic disk isn't there, does that mean your timing will always be inaccurate? I'll have to be very careful when I unscrew that fitting I guess. Wonder how many pumps of lube I should force into that zerk? ;-)
Interesting to discover all the adjustments/creative ideas were done over the years to my 1/2 ton. The challenge is to CORRECT them!!!!
Thank goodness for all the info here.

Am I wrong to be so skeptical about that spring and disc? I have a hard time believing it offers any real benefit. In my mind, if you really need that spring and disc to smooth out your dwell, your distributor has bigger problems, and it's probably time to put some new shaft bushings in.

Anyone disagree? I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to test it with and without ... but I admit I'm not gonna do it.

-Michael

In a previous post, a tip on the small discs was given. Although not phenolic you can get nylon flat washers at Lowes. Marketed by Hillman with a p/n 884566. Dimensions are listed as .140x 5/16x 1/8. Incidentally, last Christmas I got a reman distributor from Cardone. It had a plastic plug in the hole where the grease cup goes.

I think the disk was THOUGHT to have held the shaft 'steady'... kinda like the polarity switch on the starter supposedly being a good thing.

The parts manual calls it a FELT wick 2.364

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_54chevyparts/02/153.HTM

which makes sense that it would be FELT (porous) and not plastic. Putting a plastic plug into your grease pot kinda keeps the grease from going where its supposed to.

My guess is that the wick is there to meter the grease if it starts to melt (grease is just oil in a soap). Not sure how it is being called plastic.. parts manual is pretty clear on it.

I guess that after decades of use the grease caked felt looks like plastic????

The washer recommended above was to replace a missing disc

It will not stop grease
...pic..

The original hard disc is not a tight fit, and allows grease to get where it needs to go.
My take on the necessity of the disc and spring is to reduce wobble of the shaft. A brand new distributor has some clearance or it would not turn. During its useful life (50-60,000 miles when these trucks were built and run on horrible oil) there will be wear causing more shaft clearance to occur, making the spring and disc even more critical for taming the wobble throughout the useful life of the engine.
Carl

It is the little things that matter. You spend time and money for new points, plugs, filters, and take the time to get the timing and air mix right. So now it would seem to make sense to keep all that stable for as long as you can. The shaft in the dizzy has maybe the worst lubrication system ever. The lower part is splashed with oil, sort of. The top, and middle are.....dry. Grease from that cup is all there is. A sloppy bushing at the top of the housing will let the shaft wander all over the place. A little spring pressure will take that away. So for stable timing, and dwell, along with consistent point gap that spring is a cheap and easy fix. The disk/felt washer keeps the spring off the shaft. The "loose" fit of the washer/felt disk lets the grease do its job. Cheap, reliable, and it works. Win, win all around. Phenolic, nylon, or felt, all it does is keep the pressure on the shaft and the spring off.

Well I guess I am a bit confused between the parts book and the service manual

41 Shop manual
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1941/41csm279.htm

install the fiber shaft contact, spring and grease cup

42-47 Shop manual
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1942_47/4247csm1227.htm

8. Install the bakelite shaft contact plug, spring and grease cup.

29-54 Parts book
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_54chevyparts/02/153.HTM

29-49 ALL
50-53 ALL w/216
50-52 ALL w/235

Specifies a felt wick, only the diameter changes (5/16 -> 21/64)

I thought the wick might be the one under the rotor at the top of the shaft, but the parts diagram on p. 154 clearly marks the plug, spring and cup as 2.364 PLUG, 2.364 SPRING 2.364 GREASE CUP

5/16's IS MUCH TO LARGE to fit in the grease cup.... so is there an error in the parts book?

5/16 = 20/64
1/64th of an inch is not much (1.6% larger)

That later piece of felt is 1/8" thick vs 3/32" thick in earlier years (1/32" more is about 3.1% thicker)