Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:41:32 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: air cooled ignition distributor questions
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reply-type=original
'points' ............what are 'points' ????
( joking )
how much side play is there in your distributor shaft ?
there shouldn't be any .
or barely any. If it moves .010 inches left/right........that's a country
mile.......i.e. way too much.
position the engine with the points wide open......on top of a lobe, and
move the shaft left and right ......and see how much that affects point gap
.....if it is badly worn. You can see that can't work too well for too
long.
I would convert to the electronic ignition and distributor for a California
model air cooled vanagon. A super easy retro fit.
I also have installed 83 to 85 vanagon 1.9 waterboxer distributor and
ignition system onto an air cooled vanagon where there was a points
distributor previously ..........with great results.
I could probably come up with a 1.9 waterboxer distributor, ignitor,
harness, and idle stabilizer thing if someone wanted to buy that set for
converting an air-cooled points distributor vanagon to full electronic. Big
advantage to having it over points igniton.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Poole" <jfpoolio@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 1:13 PM
Subject: air cooled ignition distributor questions
> Hello List,
>
> I think that the distributor in my 83 Air cooled westy needs to be
> replace/rebuilt. I am planning to disassemble it for inspection in a
> little
> while but wanted to get some feedback from you folks on this topic.
>
> The primary symptoms are that small amounts of oil have been showing up
> under the distributor cap and the point contact blocks have been wearing
> very fast. I use a dwell meter to set the point gap and frequently
> check/adjust the gap/time on my motor. I watch idle speed on my tach and
> cylinder head temps and usually can tell when it is time to do a tune up.
> I've been following this approach for years and with some air cooled
> motors
> have been able to set the point gap to a dwell of 45 or so and then run
> the
> motor for a long time before needing to re-gap the points when the dwell
> creeps up to 48 or 49. Right now I am needing to gap the points every 500
> or so miles due to wear and have even seen jumps from 47 to 57 in a few
> hundred miles. As a result I switched to a different grease for the block
> so maybe that will help until I get this sorted out? When I look into the
> distributor later I will be looking for slack/wear and damaged lobes on
> the
> points cam.
>
> The timing lights strobe is very consistent/steady with this distributor
> when I am timing the engine and overall performance is good,, until the
> gap
> closes and timing slacks as a result. Mech and vacuum advance were close
> to
> specs when I checked them a year or so ago.
>
> So,, any suggestions for things to look at?
>
> Also, any recommendations on rebuild kits or diy setups? Rebuild
> services?
> Replacement options etc.?
>
> Top priority will be ending up with a reliable distributor new, used,
> rebuilt or otherwise. Secondary priority is keeping costs reasonable. I
> also will probably move to electronic ignition when I replace or rebuild
> this distributor so input on that topic is also appreciated.
>
> I'm not looking to replace my entire ignition system or anything,, just to
> get this system back to something that is lower maintenance and more
> reliable.
>
> In case someone in the area has a good used distributor I am currently in
> Asheville NC and am likely to be heading west to Memphis/north Mississippi
> sometime soon.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions,
>
> Jonathan Poole
> '83 AC Westy
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