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Distributor rebuild?

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  PSIG 
#1 ·
This is not for me but for a mustang owner at my work.

He has a 289 hipo and found an original dual point distributor for it. He was wondering if he could rebuild it before he installed it? New bushing and what not. Its the centrifugal advance not vaccum advance. He just wants to make sure its working properly and figured try to rebuild it before he takes the time to install it.

Any ideas?
Is this even possible?
is there a kit or a place to send it?

Thanks for the help
 
#2 ·
It's possible.
Just don't use a hammer to get it apart and the gear and shaft sleeve are offset drilled so they only go back on one way. The is shim kits to adjust the shaft's end play.
Unless the shaft is really sloppy the bushings are using in good shape. Biggest thing I've found is cleaning the oil groove and inside of the housing up.
I do recommend taking pictures as you tear it apart to remember how everything goes back together. Especially the advance notches and spring location. They're usually to different tensions to allow advance to come in at different RPMs.
 
#3 ·
While there are rebuild shops, I can't recommend, as I do my own rebuilding. To do this correctly, you should have a copy of the FSM (Ford Service Manual) for your (his) model/year vehicle. Anybody who owns a classic Ford should have the FMS in any case as it's a huge time and money saver. It shows the correct procedures, tolerances, torques, spring rates, etc. to do the job easy, quick and correct. Distributor rebuilding is simple but specific.

David
 
#4 ·
BTW - your friend does understand that the K-code 289s had noticeably worse gas mileage due to that distributor, right? He would benefit more in both performance and mileage to simply upgrade his current distributor with a module insert and make money selling the HiPo distributor to a collector. Just sayin'.

David
 
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