wobbly distributor

[Green67Alpine]

Hi Folks,
Just rebuilt 1725 engine 50 over, kb grind on cam, nos oil pump, fired her up today for the first time and after a bit of fiddling around got it running pretty good, ran in the cam at about 1500 or so for twenty minutes, but noticed the dizzy now has a wobble that wasn't there before any thoughts?
Thanks, Tom j

 

[Greggers]

It's contagious! Remember my old 1725 and its figure-eight wobble? I'd be happy to let you borrow my spare Pertronix-equipped distributors for testing. The bright side is that those distributors don't wobble on my new engine.

 

[Green67Alpine]

Thanks for the offer,I may take you up on it, but that still doesn't solve the problem, why would it start wobbling . I'm hoping it's not in the engine or oil pump.
Tom j

 

[RootesRacer]

Thanks for the offer,I may take you up on it, but that still doesn't solve the problem, why would it start wobbling . I'm hoping it's not in the engine or oil pump.
Tom j

There are 2 parts to the distributor, the distributor proper and the distributor base. The base mounts to the engine block, the distributor is pushed into the base where it engages the oil pump drive dog. The base and distributor are locked together by a clamp.
The clamp if overtightened can crack the base and "cock" the distributor, which when driven from the offset key in the drive dog will make the distributor wobble.

I would dissemble and inspect both halves, as well as the drive dog engagement surfaces.

 

[Green67Alpine]

Thanks for the info, that clamp was pretty tight I'll check it out.
Tom j

 

[jumpinjan]

I actually have seen the "distributor base" modified by someone. They turned down the length of it in a lathe (apparently), to make it fit better?...for some reason? Unbelievable! You never know what you will find on these cars, after they been molested over the decades, but we're getting back to normal again.
Jan

 

[Green67Alpine]

After pulling the dizzy, nothing seems to be broken or cracked I did notice (after it was pulled) the rotor wasn't pushed down all the way and was wobbling when I turned the shaft by hand, I have no idea if this is the problem as I've yet to reinstall everything,but hey luck is a funny thing.
Tom j