polara71
Old Man with a Hat
On the firewall.
Popping through exhaust on acceleration
- Thread starter polarnj
- Start date
On the firewall.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
YES! Cap off the port on the carb, or even plug the vac advance line with a pencil or better, a golf tee if you lack the little vac caps, then, using a tachometer and timing light, watch your timing as you goose up the carburetor to say, 1k, 2k, then 3k rpm. If you lack the instruments for this, (tachometer and timing light) then take the car for a drive on the highway. THAT will demonstrate a little something.
You really need to tool up a bit if you haven't got the basic instruments for tuning your 383. Get an Actron Model 612 on eBay for $20-40, and a decent timing light to go with that.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
OK, you can't see MUCH of your mech advance weights from just the top of your distributor after pulling the cap off, but I'll school you a little tonight.
That pointy looking collar below the rotor is called the "reluctor." The little solenoid with its flat surface facing those points picks up a weak current as the reluctor point passes by. This is referred to as the "Hall Effect" and is just induced current in that little solenoid. Your "electronic ignition" (the orange box w the big heat sunk transistor on the top surface) connects to that solenoid, gets the little induced current pulse induced by the reluctor, amplifies the **** out of that, then sends a strong square wave to your coil, which in turn multiplies the pulse by a couple thousand volts each time and sends it back to your rotor, which hopefully passes that high voltage pulse to your spark plugs. You need BRASS feeler gauge blades to gap your reluctor with that little square solenoid properly, as these things have permanent magnets, which will grab ordinary steel feeler gauge blades.
NOW, as a safety measure, you should spray sp,e penetrant/displacer/light machine oil into the advance weights underneath the plate. This was called a "breaker plate" from the halcyon days of breaker POINTS, but the phrase isn't quite appropriate for a Hall Effect distrubutor. I think its still called that though.... I recommend CLP Break Free for your advance weights. I recommend you get another distributor even more. That one looks in need of The Hopster's (halifaxhops) expert work! Get one AND his manual on electronic ignition. You REALLY NEED TO KNOW THIS ****!!!!!
Thx for the info !
If I did get a different distributor which would you recommend?
Also, with regard to the advance weights, are they underneath the rotor, i.e. not right on top like in the GM cars? That might be why I thought they were stuck
You don't need a new distributor and it's not the ballast resistor.
What you do need is do some simple "back to basics" maintenance. These cars aren't like new cars where you don't touch anything for 100K miles.
For example: See the black spot on the rotor? Then see the end of the rotor? It needs to be replaced... Most likely the cap is in the same condition. Change the plugs, cap and rotor at minimum. Better yet, a new set of plug wires. This is all basic stuff that needs to be done if you want to have an old car. Check the timing (you'll need a timing light) too.
No one can figure out any problems when the basics aren't covered.
volksworld
Well-Known Member
NOT a GM...advance springs and weights are located under the breaker plate and distributor would need to be disassembled to have access to them...if you grab the rotor you should be able to twist it a bit (like maybe 1/4 to 1/2 an inch at the tip) and when released it should spring back to its original position if weights and springs are operational
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Get one from Halifaxhops, on our forum. Look under For Sale - Mopar refurbished distributors
DON'T **** around with any shiny new ****. The Hopster will do you right! Get a modest "electronic ignition" one appropriate to your car. THEN, save the one you have, get Mr. Halifaxhops electronic distributor MANUAL, clean up what you have, and keep it handy. Having ONE SPARE distributor ALWAYS is a GOOD idea. Keep it in your trunk.
Regardless of how many you might wind up owning, NEVER RUN such a sorry, dirty mess as you have NOW! Replace your cap and rotor, and clean the damn thing up. Get that brass bladed feeler gauge and gap your reluctor properly. There is NO electrical contact issue in this sensible, simple device, but it must be gapped. With a nice new cap and rotor, you'll be AMAZED at how much better that engine runs.
Pity you can't print up a sheet of C-notes and fly me up to do this **** for you. As an out and out pedagogue (and public masticator!) I enjoy teaching folks simple stuff like this. With the Hopster's manual and the right FSM as your texts, you can go to Old Mopar Skool!
Haha no need for you to do that, I appreciate all your help though
Will have it cleaned up and running great
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Got it, will give that a try thx
To remove the rotor to replace it you just pull it up, right?
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
yes
Cool thx
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