Delco-Remy Distributor Plate/Ball Bearing Wear - 1937 Buick 248ci

[70sWagoneers]

Ive got a 1937 Buick Special with 248ci engine. Im working on the distributor and it seems the distributor plate assembly will not rotate smoothly on its ball bearings. It will move but it seems to go from indentation to indentation. Not a smooth movement at all. The ball bearings themselves don't have any gross irregularities. The distributor plate, in the three pockets where the ball bearings sit, have some wear, but it is fairly smooth. The groove in the distributor housing that the ball bearings ride definitely have large "indentations" where the whole thing gets stuck in one place. The indentation is so large I have to ask whether it is actually supposed to be there? Then my other question is what options do I have on fixing this. I have seen reference to the Dyna-Flyte breaker plates, but that doesn't seem to fix the wear in the housing (which I may be totally mistaken about). It looks like the Dyna-Flyte does away with the three ball bearings and rides on its own bearing system. Is that correct? I have also seen the Calibromatic or Spark-o-liner which seems to install a liner into the ball bearing groove. Does that work? And one last question, do these kits come with new ball bearings? and/or where do I ket new ball bearings? 

 

Thanks

James C.

[pont35cpe]

James, the Dyna-flyte model 880 is, in my opinion, the way to go. This breaker plate has nothing to do with the "groove".  Another option is the Delco kit that has three plastic pieces that replace the ball bearings. I don`t have the part number for that kit. There is one Dyna-flyte 880 kit listed on ebay, 2+days to go, has one bid, item #122670469985. These don`t come up very often.  Tom

[Daves1940Buick56S]

The Delco replacement for the ball bearing unit is 1914446 . They show up on Ebay all the time. Besides the groove problem you have, the other issue with the ball bearing plates is the vac advance can pull the plate towards the center (imagine an inwards spiral) rather than around the circle. Result is change in dwell as well as timing. The 3 plastic pieces takes care of this problem as well as your injured grooves since the piece that slides is abt 3/4" long rather than a point contact as in the balls. Get one of these and your problems with this will be at an end.

 

Cheers, Dave

[FLYER15015]

James,

The 3 plastic slides that replace the 3 balls saved my bacon, and made my distributor like new again.

It is Delco Remy part # 1914446

I got mine off ebay but the seller is Mr. Gerard J. Wolf, 27 west high st. Mount Gilead, Ohio.

I don't have a phone number, sorry.

If he is out of stock you will have to google that part number.

ALSO,  check to see that your weights slide freely and your vacuum advance works.

 

Makes a world of difference in how she will drive.

Ask me how I know.............

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike in Colorado

 

PS Dave beat me to it, and my thanks to Dave for turning ME on to this distributer upgrade.

  Think I'll give a "like" to Dave for that.

Edited September 1, 2017 by FLYER15015 (see edit history)

[FLYER15015]

James,

There is exactly the plate you need on ebay for about $44.00 NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If I were you, I would grab it ASAP

 

 

Mike in Colorado

[70sWagoneers]

Thanks everyone. How does the Delco replacement part work? Are the plastic pieces mounted to the dist housing or the breaker plate? If they mount to plate, it doesn't seem like it would rotate very smoothly against the pits in the ball bearing groove. But it has to be better than the ball bearings. Is there any drawback to the Dyna-Flytes with dual points?

Thanks

James C

[Daves1940Buick56S]

The plastic pieces don't move, they sit in the groove where those 3 indentations are so they are locked in place. The plate slides along the plastic pieces, they are long enough to permit full vac advance travel. It will become apparent to you when you receive the part.

 

Cheers, Dave

[pont35cpe]

1 hour ago, 70sWagoneers said:

Thanks everyone. How does the Delco replacement part work? Are the plastic pieces mounted to the dist housing or the breaker plate? If they mount to plate, it doesn't seem like it would rotate very smoothly against the pits in the ball bearing groove. But it has to be better than the ball bearings. Is there any drawback to the Dyna-Flytes with dual points?

Thanks

James C

James, there is a dual point Dyna-flyte 880D type (Genuine Products Company DR8) also on ebay, item #112425286848

[70sWagoneers]

I see a couple of dual point Dyna on ebay too. I just wonder if they are worth the hassle or not.

Thanks, everyone.

James C

[Malo48]

I just changed out my ball-bearing plate (and Spark-O-Liner race) with the Delco #1914446 (three plastic sliders) and it works like a dream.   I had been chasing some gremlins that seem to have gone away now.   I would have never known about it if not for this forum!
Anyway, for posterity's sake, I have attached the installation instructions that came with the part should anyone need reference.

Delco Distributor Plate #1914446.pdf

[philipj]

Is the Delco kit 1613500 exactly the same as 1914446? Thank you...

[Daves1940Buick56S]

As an additional data point I now have another Buick and it has the DynaFlyte 880 (not dual point) plate. I am very impressed with this unit so far, it is massively over-engineered with the plate riding on 60 ball bearings. So either the Delco upgrade plate or the DynaFlyte 880 would be suitable replacements, but the Delco will likely be cheaper to buy.

 

Cheers, Dave

[philipj]

Trying to find the Dyna-Flyte 880, but no luck, my question again is if I get the Dyna-Flyte 880D for dual points and only install one set of points, would that still work?