1935 355D Remove and Refit Distributor

[pmhowe]

The attached picture shows the distributor on my 1935 Model 355D.  I’d like to remove it, clean it, refresh the paint, replace points and condenser, and put it back. It looks to me that the easy way to do it is to remove the wire to the coil and remove the two bolts holding the base to the engine housing, noting the position of the slot where the rotor fits. That way, I maintain correct timing. Any concerns I should be aware of?

Thanks,

Phil

[DaveZ]

Nope. You don't even have to worry about the rotor. The shaft key is off center and can only drop in one way. Just plop it in with the rotor on then turn the rotor until it drops. Don't force it.

[pmhowe]

Thanks for the reply.  Actually, I removed the distributor the other day, and removal was a piece of cake. While it was out, I checked for play in the rotor shaft, installed new points and condenser, and cleaned and painted the body. It turns out that, for this car at least, it is much easier to change condenser and change and adjust the points by pulling the distributor than it is to do the job in situ. Reassembly is straightforward, as the timing is not lost.  All in all, a nice, easy job.

Since the failure rate in modern replacement car condensers is reputed to be fairly high, I replaced mine with a modification described at this link:  https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/mog-group/bulletproof$20condenser/mog-group/p6J2LlX8Su0/ioQnpwEICQAJ

[Big Fins]

Link states you must be a member. It also does not use the complete in the way you typed it. It stops at the $.

[pmhowe]

I'm not sure how to fix the link. It works for me.  So, here is an excerpt that contains the pertinent information:

"If you want to make a bulletproof condenser, I suggested a modern retrofit to an MG owner and it is being used by more than one MG owner and a guy with a Porsche. It is a 1000V rated ceramic capacitor rated at 125 degrees C and if potted inside an original condenser shell works even better than the paper/foil crappy ones when they are new. It tested significantly better on my test rig than an equivalent condenser with the same µF capacity. It's quite small and fit easily inside the Lucas shell. I potted it in place with JB weld (it has to be potted in epoxy to be reliable). One lead is soldered to the inside of the can and the other to a piece of teflon insulated wire. See the pic of the standard condenser and the retrofit condenser on my Morgan. This is not hard to do if you can solder and worth doing in my opinion. The capacitor that I used can be bought at many electronics parts stores. Just google it: Kemet brand, 1000V, 0.22µF, part # C350C224KDR5TA  If you go this route it would be the last condenser it ever needed. I put mine through a considerable amount of abuse during testing with no degradation."