Findings during recent tune up

[SourKraut412]

I picked up an 86 Brat a few months ago and a tune up was long overdue, finally got to it this weekend.  The tachometer had been a bit jumpy and the needle would occasionally surge, but it had been happening more frequently during my regular commute.  Eventually, it even stalled a couple of times, but fortunately it happened on the lane leaving my house and not out in the middle of nowhere.  Anyway, I suspected the distributor after reading up on everything I could find on here...thanks USMB community!

 

The cap looked relatively new compared to the plugs and wires.  Plugs #1 & #3 had more black soot than usual and some trace amounts of oil, while #2 & #4 were pretty much perfect.  I had trouble twisting the disty rotor until some WD-40 freed it's movement, so the vacuum advance should be good to go.  I also took the time to replace any rubber hoses I could, mostly vacuum lines, as the originals were very dry, hard, and cracking at the edges.  I ended up cleaning the sludge out of the PCV hoses and reusing them since I couldn't find anyone that carried 5/8 fuel line, which is what was on there - not sure if that's the stock or not.

 

The car runs so much smoother just with the new cap, rotor, plugs, and wires.  I also cleaned the air filter, but it wasn't too dirty to begin with.  Smooth increases and decreases on the tach needle now as well.  I didn't replace the distributor yet.

 

 

Anyway, that's the backstory for a couple questions I still have after all of this:

 

1.  How much side-to-side shaft play is normal for the distributor?  I measured about .8mm with my feeler guage.  It doesn't seem like much, but I read on here there needs to be little to no movement.  Probably it's a sign that I need to start looking for a JY disty but wondering how quickly I should make that happen. 

 

Rockauto has reman units for about $107 from A1-Cardone if anyone has ever used them before, please chime in if they are quality.  I've used their parts before without issue, but the price is so much lower than the other options it kinda makes you wonder...

 

2.  When I pulled the rotor (with dist pointing at #1 cylinder) I found the metal tab inside the rotor cavity was installed on the opposite side as the flat part of the disty shaft.  Is that normal or did someone screw up somewhere along the way.  If it was put on backwards, it'd be 180 deg off and I'd be on the wrong stroke (exhaust) if I need to put at TDC the next time I do engine work, but I don't think having it that way would make it run different in anyway?

 

3.  The plugs I pulled were NGK BPR63Y with the slot in the point.  I replaced with BPR6ES which was stock according to the parts counter.  I've read a little about the differences between the two and it seems like a matter of preference.  Is there any real reason someone would choose one over there other for the Brat?  I'd rather not make this another "which oil do you prefer" debate, more curious if there are any real advantages or if it's just marketing by plug makers.

 

4.  During my overhaul of the vac lines, I found one of the PCV valve nipples didn't have anything connected.  I know it probably doesn't matter, but I'd prefer to have everything connected properly even if it's just for show.  Can someone say where those hoses are routed to?  I think the one that was connected went to a "T" that eventually routed to the block.

 

Thanks in advance for any input. Love the site, I already learned so much about these rigs in the 5 months I've owned one!

[ferox]

If you don't need a new distributor right away, the Philbin Group in Portland rebuilds these distributors, so I would recommend calling them.  That would be where you would get the highest quality, and we are lucky that they are local.  

 

Any LAPS or internet parts supply house reman disty is going to be hit-or-miss.  It's almost impossible to generalize about the quality of remans for this particular part.  You basically have to get the unit, install it, and see how it goes.  If you don't go with the Philbin Group, you might try a local over-the-counter store, so it's easier to exchange units until you get a good one, if needed.

 

Just a quick bit of advice...if you want people to respond to your post, then it will need to be shorter.  Most people don't have the time to read all that, and many people use their phones to check the site, so when they see a block of text like that they simply don't read it.  Maybe separate each question or issue into individual threads if it's difficult to pare down the text.  Also, photos of the parts you are asking about would be helpful and would likely garner more responses.

[SourKraut412]

Good info, thanks.  Yeah, I get it on the length, I was trying to give all the details so people didn't have to ask follow up questions like did you do this or did you do that, etc.  I'll try to be more concise in the future!

 

So, the biggest question I have is how much play in the disty shaft is considered acceptable?

[SourKraut412]

I ended up finding the answer to one question on the Philbin group website.  It states that a distributor shaft should not have more than .002 inch of play.  That's roughly .05mm and mine is well beyond this. Time for a JY replacement.

 

http://www.philbingroup.com/rebuilt/distributors.htm

 

Hope this helps someone else.