Vacum Advance plate wobble

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k3522

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I just got a FBO Ignition kit and distributor using a FBO core. The vacum advance plate has some wobble. When I pulled it out of the packing the pickup was magneticlly attached to the reluctor. Not thinking the plate had a wobble I got my brass gage and went to set the air gap to .008 and found the wobble. I have the gap set but am afraid once I install it the wobble could damage the reluctor and pickup. FYI, when it all came in the coil had a dent. Don @ FBO, is shipping a replacement and seems like a honest supplier and Mopar person. I hate to bother him about this wobble in the advance plate unless is sounds like something is wrong. There are a couple nicks in the reluctor which I am guessing happened on the Sun machine at FBO.

What do you think?
 
Don't sound right to me. Don's a good guy so if you bought it and it's defective let him know. I think he will take care of you.
 
Maybe the breaker plate is worn or the bushings? I have seen this a lot on rebuilt units, after the vac advance is applied it cocks the plate instead of turning it.

Have them look at it again, there is a spec that on points or electronic the dwell again IE air gap should change no more that +- 1-2 degrees max. This will affect the timing a lot it it tilts..
 
I had the exact same thing happen to mine that I got from Don. I know the problem. There is a pushrod with a knob on it that catches in a notch on the plate. What happened to mine was that the rod got pushed/caught up underneath the plate and causes it to wobble. Carefully slide the rod back out from inder the plate into it's position where it should be on the vacuum pressure plate. Then the gap between the reluctor and magnetic pick up will be fine. I think I have pictures that I sent Don of mine. I was going to send it back but I think I figure the problem out after studying it for a while. I had no damage that I could tell. Don runs these curved distributors up to 7000-8000 before they go out. Maybe something he needs to check into I guess. He will set you straight.

distrib_006.jpg
 
Here are the photo of how I fixed mine.

This is how it looked out of the box
47b7dd23b3127cce82286c90bbc300000016100AYs27Ji3ZsmPg.jpg

Here is the problem
47b7dd23b3127cce82286ffc7a0600000016100AYs27Ji3ZsmPg.jpg

Here is the fixed Version
47b7dd23b3127cce82286fe9fb2300000016100AYs27Ji3ZsmPg.jpg


hope this helps
dave
 
daves66valiant, I was just browsing the forums and this caught my eye. I too have a distributor that seems to get slightly cocked as the advance is initiated. Man this is really good info. It looks like that arm could slide under there quite easily if someone per say was playing with the advance unit.(not that I did that :) )Thanks for sharing the info and pics!! I am going to check out my distributor for arm issue.
 
no sweat. that's what we are here for. just took a little studying. this distrib just came from FBO. never installed. It was very curious but i think i fixed it.
 
I got out and checked my spare distributor and the one in my car. Both of them have no signs of the tab showed on yours. It looks like both of mine have an extra plate in between with a tab molded into the plate and it just rides on it? hhmmm, wonder if there is more than one style of advance units? I may have to tear one apart to get a better look.
 
63dartman said:
I got out and checked my spare distributor and the one in my car. Both of them have no signs of the tab showed on yours. It looks like both of mine have an extra plate in between with a tab molded into the plate and it just rides on it? hhmmm, wonder if there is more than one style of advance units? I may have to tear one apart to get a better look.
Click to expand...

The units from FBO are specially tweaked/curved by Don Gould. It is not your typical mopar perfomance or electronic conversion distributor (from china probably). These things will crank it out to 8800 rpm with the best of them. It appears stock but is not. He can recurve your distrib for a very reasonable price if you can't do it yourself.
 
The vacuum advance arm and pin are in the correct hole in the plate. Don has e-mailed me and said that under the lower plate has a pin that goes through it with a spring loaded clip. I am going to check it by seeing if the plate will pry up until it hits the bottom of the reluctor. If it does then the clip has came off. I am going to look for Mom Mopar pictures to see what this all looks like.
 
Interesting. I took a look and the pin you are talking about seems to be secure on mine. I'd be interested in knowing what happens to yours and what else Don has to say.
Dave
 
I did as Don instructed and the lower plate can be pryed up to touch the reluctor so the clip is gone. Sent the distributor back to Don today no questions asked. Said he will fix it and may put it on the Sun machine to make sure everything is good. This guy has reasonable pricing and if the distributor and electronic kit works as well as I hear, I will be the first one to let other know.
 
MY distributor has the same problem, it is not an FBO unit.. did you get yours back fixed?? and does the car run better.. MIne seems to miss and I think it may be because that plate to able to move easily. Doesn't seem to matter much whether the advance is used or not. And I have his electronic
control unit coil , cap and rotor.. and they work great!
 
When I pulled the old one out the plates were a different better style in my opinion.
To fix the new distributor I bought a longer set screw for the gap adjustment and filed it down to a length that just touches the lower plate which stablized the wobble condition.
 
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