1925 Series 80 rebuilt distributor WANTED

Tom,

Are you missing one or just have a worn out one.

Bill

I am rebuilding my ’33. My guess is the shaft has play in it?

A series 80 distributor is just a Series 80 distributor. They are unique. The closest one is from a mid ’20’s Packard, and it is noticably different.

The bushings in the distributor are pretty simple to make, or have made and replace. There are no companies or restoration shops that offer restored Series 80 Distributors that I am aware of.

I’m sure that John C in Massachusetts would rebuild your distributor, but he is usually several months out on new work.

Just how worn are the bushings? I ‘measure’ this by turning the distributor until the points are open, then push/pull the shaft and watch the points open and close with the shaft’s side-play. You can put a dial-indicator on the shaft or tip of the points to get an actual measurement, or measure it with feeler-gauges [this would probably require three hands or a fixture made up].

I’ll go check my pile of distributors and see if there is one with good bushings.

My biggest ‘issue’ with the Series 80 distributor is the sloppy return springs on the advance mechanisms. The rotor does not return to ‘zero advance’ position most of the time. This is a problem since if the distributor has 12 degrees of total advance from dead idle speed to 2500rpm, and the return springs only return the advance weights back to say 4 degrees, then when you set the timing, it will be set with 6 degrees as the zero point. This means then that the total usable advance would be only 8 degrees. This would have a significant impact on the performance from the engine.

I’ll head out to the shop and root around for a distributor.

Greg Long

Here is a Pierce distributor on the right, and a Packard distributor on the left.

You can see that the basic casting for the distributor is the same. But there are several bosses on the housing that are not drilled and tapped in the Packard distributor.

The base of the Packard distributor shown is bolted to the engine, inside this tubular base is the same lower extension on the bottom of the distributor as the Pierce has.

But the gear that is on the shaft on the Pierce unit is different on a Packard distributor. Instead of a gear, a wide blade, like a screwdriver blade is fitted on the shaft. This wide blade fits into a slotted driveshaft from the cam on the Packard engines.

So when you see one of these distributors, the intricately curved spring clips that hold the distributor cap on, the slotted integral hold-down tab and general shape and depth will be obvious.

To differentiate between a Pierce unit an the ‘others’, note that the Pierce distributor has a spiral gear on it’s shaft, it has the central boss on the side, just above the slotted tab drilled and taped, and a machined loop-ended bolt wit lock-nut is threaded into the side. This loop accepts the clevis pin for the manual spark advance linkage.

Also note that the lower brass fitting has a flip-top covered oil cup on the brass tube. On the Packard distributor the brass fitting is just a solid plug.

Internally, the distributors appear to be the same, The Packard, Pierce, Buick, and several other mid ’20’s cars used the same cap, rotor, points and condenser.

Greg Long

Hi Tom, the NOS cap for $100 was a bargain, the rotor for $200 was not. Unless your rotor was stepped on by a horse, or dropped on the floor and broken, they don’t need replacement. Only the spring-loaded ‘nail-head’ pin on the end that rubs against the contact ring on the distributor cap needs cleaning and dressing, or replacement.

I have these in stock.

Same with the points: the old points have a very thick layer of Tungsten. MUCH thicker than modern points. You can ‘dress’ the point contacts with a point file if they are pitted. The biggest issue with the points is the pivot pin and bushing. The old oil gets sticky, then like glue. The points will bet pushed open by the distributor cam lobes, but the spring on the points is not strong enough to overcome the glue-like dried oil on the point-pivot pin and bushing. I remove the small clip in the pin if it is still there, remove the bolt holding the spring loop-end, and gently remove the points and spring. The spring is a separate part, it comes out of the point-arm. Don’t lose it, they are harder to find than the point arm.

Carefully clean the bushing with some form of light oil, like WD-40. Do the same for the pivot pin. ON MOST, but not all pivot pins, they are insulated from the plate, and if treated roughly, the bakelite washer insulation will be destroyed. So be careful, don’t use power wire-brushes etc.

Clean the bushing carefully if it is the bakelite bushing, the brass bushing type is tougher. I don’t like to use too strong of a solvent on the bakelite, just in case the solvent could attack the bakelite. That’s why I use WD-40, or PBS, or similar light oil to clean out the sticky old oil.

When the point arm is reinstalled, it should snap back with authority against the stationary point. Set the gap at roughly .020″, the manual says from .018″-.027″..

Have you distovered the built-in cam-lobe puller, and the slip type cam on the distributor shaft ? This is the timing adjustment system or method on this era of Delco distributors.

Let me know if you need info on the moveable cam lobe system.

Greg Long

Tom,

Sorry the only extra I have is for a 33 836.

You might try this guy. I’ll look some more.

http://hagensautoparts.com/pierce%20arrow/41-electrical/14067