AzBob Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I have determined that I have a 1928 Buick distributor (Delco-Remy 640a) grafted into the generator housing (no. 317) of my 1926 standard coupe. The advance plate has been crudely welded to the distributor housing and there is no timing nut below the gear. In addition, the unit sits rather loosely in the generator endplate. (see photos)My questions are why would someone do this? Is the gear teeth on the '28 the same as on the '26? How do I time it without the nut to loosen the gear? (The '28 gear is locked with a pin.)Any insights on this would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_B Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Bob,A couple of reasons why someone would change distributors come to mind. The original one was pot metal and broke or became swollen in the end plate of the generator and wouldn't move and was broken when they tried to move it. Or they couldn't find a cap and rotor. The cap and rotor for the 28 distributor is readily available at reasonable prices. You can even use Chevy 6 cyl cap. I have attached some pictures of pages in the 28 shop manual that covers adjusting the distributor timing. I hope this helpsSorry the first two pics are in reverse order.Dave Edited November 24, 2014 by Dave_B (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzBob Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 Thanks Dave for posting the '28 shop manual pages and enlightening me on reasons a 1928 distributor would be used on a 1926.After reading the pages and going over the illustrations, The part that is just wrong on my setup is the welded timing/advance plate. The one shown has an adjustable clamp to facilitate timing. Will look at fabricating a proper clamp plate. Page 20 indicates the the generators on a '27 and '28 are interchangeable, which means the gears would be the same. Still leaves the question about the no. 317 generator dist. gear being the same. Great info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_B Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Bob,Yer welcome. I don't know about the #317 Distributor gear but I'll bet that if you crank the the engine by hand enough times to get back around to #1 firing position and the rotor comes back to the same place then they are the same.Dave Edited November 24, 2014 by Dave_B clearer thinking (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 The casing for the 26 was made out of really crappy pot metal and it seems to be a relatively common occurrence of the whole thing basically binding tightly onto the generator shaft (and then shattering). I have both and the gear is identical on both of them and it was a straight drop in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzBob Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Thanks for the info hidden_hunter! It's good to know the gears are identical. My concern was that the gear geometry or location on the shaft was different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now