3.0 ignition distributor recondition

[scottrx7tt]

Who reconditions these distributors at a fair price?

[Henry Schmidt]

Aaron Burnham
Burnham Performance
1071 Avenida Acaso ste.D
Camarillo, Ca. 93012
805-240-6931
rennwerks@hotmail.com

[James Brown]

Barry Hershon IAE Inc.

Jerry Woods JWE Motorsports | Professional Porsche Race Car Coaching Upgrades Trackside Support Setup and Maintenance

[rfuerst911sc]

Define fair price. I had one done by Barry and one by Jerry both were 500.00 for total rebuild and setup for carburetors. Was about 5 years ago.

[James Brown]

thats fair

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by James Brown

thats fair

I have a working fine 81 US dist on the shelf sitting next to my 964 cams. Bought both in the 90's. New Bosch from Beck Arnley and Elgin 964's from Engine Builder's supply.

They could be called Boxster parts as that's where they sit....in a box.

If I ever get around to this "wild-hair" upgrade, it will be sad to take one of the two functioning distributors and have it set up to better match the cam profile. It will be sadder still to have to pay $500+ for it.

But I will do it, whenever the hell that occurs. :-)

[timmy2]

To the OP,
What is wrong with yours?

Might want to do a search on rebuilding them yourself. There have been a few post in the last few days about this.
Under $100 worth of parts for new everything....
My parts to redo the bushings and shims were about $50. Guess I saved $450 in labor at $225 an hour, as it took me about 2 hours to do the work.
Hmmm, Maybe I need to raise the prices for the harnesses I build!



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[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by timmy2

Might want to do a search on rebuilding them yourself.

I bet I can do that.

Regarding fancy-pants advance curve work wrt the 964 cams, the 81 SC basically goes right to 19-24 btc total advance (or there-a-bouts) by the time you hit 3,500 rpm.

I can't see huge benefits from any curve work done - I mean, it's a 180 hp car - except for taking the lid off and allowing the total advance to maybe hit 27-29 total providing a bit more spunk at top end.

Can that be done by a DIY guy?

There are several DIY threads about rebuilding as I recall.

[snbush67]

Bob, yes, it can easily be done, simply take the top half down and bend the stops to get more advance, or change springs to get a quicker advance.

You can lock out the vacuum plate as well if your not using it, but it can provide top end advance with CIS if the vacuum is pulled from below the throttle plate.

All you need to do is pull it apart clean,lube and you will likely get all the advance you need. One of the most common problems is that the little plastic feet on the advance shaft can sometimes get brittle, crack and break and then the advance can get hung up, or the bottom gets filled with rust and crud, sometimes a spring may be broken.

The best way to test it is in the car with a timing light, see how far the spark advances, check it at 500 rpm increments all the way to 3500 rpms, Is it close to the factory curve?

Don't drink the kool aid, it ain't brain surgery.

[timmy2]

Wasn't referencing you Bob... I was typing while you were posting...
And poorly at that... Fixed my post...

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by snbush67

You can lock out the vacuum plate as well if your not using it, but it can provide top end advance with CIS if the vacuum is pulled from below the throttle plate.

It's stock now so I am using it as-is and the vacuum advance is ported, as you surely know. Not sure how below throttle plate can alter total advance when the whole shooting match is played out. mechanical and vacuum, at wimpy, 87 octane low RPM's.

Topic for another discussion, I guess to be fair to the OP. Thanks for the food for thought.

[snbush67]

I misspoke on the vacuum advance, I am not sure, about getting more advance, or wether it matters if it is above or below, and the way that the SC vacuum works. Sorry.

[scottrx7tt]

I was asking because I just installed a bitz EFI kit on a non running car I just bought. When I first started it up, it purred like a kitten. I went to take it for a spin, it then started sputtering, and then all it would do is idle. If you tried to rev it, it would cough, miss, and not build RPMs. I checked my valves again, checked the timing, replaced CDI with an MSD, new spark plug wires, new spark plugs, new cap, new rotor button... Everything new. I was thinking that maybe my distributor was bad. I did see the post about cleaning and lubing the distributor, and I think I will go that route. I refuse to pay someone $500 to do the work that I could just do myself. I think I found the culprit to my problem. That stupid GREEN wire!

[K Sykes]

Originally Posted by scottrx7tt

I was asking because I just installed a bitz EFI kit on a non running car I just bought. When I first started it up, it purred like a kitten. I went to take it for a spin, it then started sputtering, and then all it would do is idle. If you tried to rev it, it would cough, miss, and not build RPMs. I checked my valves again, checked the timing, replaced CDI with an MSD, new spark plug wires, new spark plugs, new cap, new rotor button... Everything new. I was thinking that maybe my distributor was bad. I did see the post about cleaning and lubing the distributor, and I think I will go that route. I refuse to pay someone $500 to do the work that I could just do myself. I think I found the culprit to my problem. That stupid GREEN wire!

Are you sure your fuel mix is right? What you are describing could also be very lean mix. Double check your req fuel setting in your msq.

[K Sykes]

Originally Posted by snbush67

I misspoke on the vacuum advance, I am not sure, about getting more advance, or wether it matters if it is above or below, and the way that the SC vacuum works. Sorry.

Vacuum advance doesn't do much on WOT. It provides advance at cruising rpms where more advance helps with emissions and mileage. The source is below the throttle plate where you pull a ton of vacuum when cruising, and it does little at WOT as there is little vacuum. Mechanical advance is doing all the work when it's floored.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by K Sykes

The source is below the throttle plate where you pull a ton of vacuum when cruising

Vacuum advance is above the plate on the 81SC. It assists the mechanical advance once you get rolling. This is fact as I stated the same as you a few years back and quickly received a free knowledge tuneup from the members.

The vacuum retard is below the plate as it want's vacuum at idle to retard the timing for better emissions.

So as you come off idle, and vacuum is created above the plate, the vacuum advance starts assisting the mech advance.

What I don't know is if all vacuum advances are like this.

Try this on your SC, pull the vacuum advance and check for suction at idle. There should be none. If you have both hoses, one should have vacuum and one should not at idle.

[K Sykes]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Vacuum advance is above the plate on the 81SC. It assists the mechanical advance once you get rolling. This is fact as I stated the same as you a few years back and quickly received a free knowledge tuneup from the members.

The vacuum retard is below the plate as it want's vacuum at idle to retard the timing for better emissions.

So as you come off idle, and vacuum is created above the plate, the vacuum advance starts assisting the mech advance.

What I don't know is if all vacuum advances are like this.

Try this on your SC, pull the vacuum advance and check for suction at idle. There should be none. If you have both hoses, one should have vacuum and one should not at idle.

Interesting - always dangerous to state things as a fact if you can't check your car (meaning me, not Bob). My distributor is gone now, replaced by EDIS. Totally agree on the retard pulling at idle. What doesn't make sense to me is that an "above the plate" vacuum, I assume, would pull more with a very high airflow going by, meaning high RPM, butterfly very open. This would seem a bit counterintuitive, as you would want your advance to drop off a bit at very high load, very high rpm to avoid blowing up the motor. But it could handle more advance at cruise.

Oh well, getting way off the track of the OP - back to regularly scheduled programming (apologies for the bad info)