'22 Big Six Remy Dist Cam

[Patowncar]

Hi all, new to the Forum and have my first question.  Am adjusting the timing on my '22 Big Six Touring car (22 Series EK-EL: not After 23 Series) as per the service manual directions with everything going straight forward until I have to pry off the distributor cam to rotate it counterclockwise to line it up with Cyl No. 1.  Loosened and can remove the hold down nut, no problem.  The cam will not lift off, however.  Soaked it with penetrating fluid for days.  It seems "locked on" the shaft somehow.  The cam and shaft will lift and rotate every so slightly, and there looks like there is a collar at the bottom of the cam.  Should the cam only lift up so far (it doesn't come all the way off ?) to be able to turn it?  I know the cam/shaft fit should be a tapered fit.  Of course, the can't make out the model no on the dist tag, so maybe the dist is not a 626 and was has been changed out?  Lastly, the small white dot on left side of the dist housing rim is the Cyl 1 mark.  If the cam is fixed to the shaft, could the shaft be installed "one tooth" off?   Don't want to do any harm at this point with forcing things, but does anyone know what's going on.?  Thanks, Steve    

Edited May 3 by Patowncar (see edit history)

[Henry Holt]

I'm looking for a Delco-Remy distributor 626 if anyone has one for sale?

 

Thank you

Henry

[DFeeney]

I had trouble setting the timing up on my 1922 Big 6 about 15 yrs ago.  As I remember I never realized the rotor was held to the distributor shaft  by a screw which locks it down. ( any place in a 360 degree rotation).  I would think you would set #1 piston at TDC on the compression stroke, and  rotate the distributor till the points just open.   The rotor wound then be placed under what will become #1 spark plug wire and locked down.  The rest of the wires would be installed according to the firing order. 

[Old buicks 2]

I believe the shaft that the cam and nut are on has a slight taper to it and a corresponding taper on the inside of the cam.  Once loose, the cam can be rotated to facilitate proper timing.   Use a penetrant like PB Blast and give it time to work.   Remember it didn't become stuck overnight,  chances are that a few drops of PR B and time will do the trick.

 

[Patowncar]

14 hours ago, DFeeney said:

I had trouble setting the timing up on my 1922 Big 6 about 15 yrs ago.  As I remember I never realized the rotor was held to the distributor shaft  by a screw which locks it down. ( any place in a 360 degree rotation).  I would think you would set #1 piston at TDC on the compression stroke, and  rotate the distributor till the points just open.   The rotor wound then be placed under what will become #1 spark plug wire and locked down.  The rest of the wires would be installed according to the firing order. 

Thanks, I believe your distributor was a Wagner type; service manual shows their cam is secured in place with a screw.  From what I gather, my distributor does not rotate.  The adjustment to line up the rotor to spark plug #1 is by rotating my cam, which is where I'm having the problem.  I check it out further though. 

[Patowncar]

13 hours ago, Old buicks 2 said:

I believe the shaft that the cam and nut are on has a slight taper to it and a corresponding taper on the inside of the cam.  Once loose, the cam can be rotated to facilitate proper timing.   Use a penetrant like PB Blast and give it time to work.   Remember it didn't become stuck overnight,  chances are that a few drops of PR B and time will do the trick.

 

Thanks 

[Peter R.]

Your distributor is not a Remy 626-A. It is an older Remy model without automatic advance. I can gladly look up what model it is supposed to be.

It is correct, shaft and cam are tapered. Remove the nut and try to twist loose the cam with an adjustable wrench.

 

[DFeeney]

My distributor was a Remy.  If you are not a member of the ASC club you should join.  It will save you time and money plus you will meet interesting people.

[Patowncar]

2 hours ago, Peter R. said:

Your distributor is not a Remy 626-A. It is an older Remy model without automatic advance. I can gladly look up what model it is supposed to be.

It is correct, shaft and cam are tapered. Remove the nut and try to twist loose the cam with an adjustable wrench.

 

This is great information, thanks so much.  As shown in my photos my distributor doesn't have any advance weights or condenser.  The best I can make out on the nameplate is its Model 658 B, Serial 23816.  Do you happen to have a data sheet for this model you could share, and/or look up what distributor should be on my 1922 Studebaker Big Six Touring?  Your photos of the shaft and cam look exactly like what I can see of my distributor.  The hole in the cam would hold a pin for the rotor segment to align into.  I will plan on carefully turning the cam to break it free or prying it up.  Thanks again. 

[Old buicks 2]

Here is a partial data sheet from a 1930 Guaranteed Parts Co catalog.   

[Henry Holt]

What about the 626X?

[Peter R.]

[Patowncar]

11 hours ago, Old buicks 2 said:

Here is a partial data sheet from a 1930 Guaranteed Parts Co catalog.   

Thanks for the data sheet.  A closer look at my distributor shows it is a 358-B as per your chart, and not a 658-B as I first thought.  

[Patowncar]

4 hours ago, Peter R. said:

Thanks for the tech info.  My dist is a 358-B as per your data sheet.  As you know, having the correct info is sometimes 90% of doing the fix properly.  

[Patowncar]

Between the advice received, and the info on the data sheets (which I didn't expect), I can report my cam popped off this morning-I think it knew my next step was a little induction heater application.  But it's off and I've positioned it where I believe the timing should be improved.  Will let you know when I fire it up.  Thanks again.  

[Peter R.]

Keep in mind that the condenser is located inside the coil. If you’re still using the original 100 year old coil, the condenser will almost certainly be bad. If it is bad, you will have weak sparks and the points will burn down quite quickly. If the condenser is shorted, you won‘t have a spark at all. Just use a more modern coil and install a new condenser externally.

[Patowncar]

6 hours ago, Peter R. said:

Keep in mind that the condenser is located inside the coil. If you’re still using the original 100 year old coil, the condenser will almost certainly be bad. If it is bad, you will have weak sparks and the points will burn down quite quickly. If the condenser is shorted, you won‘t have a spark at all. Just use a more modern coil and install a new condenser externally.

I'll look into this for my car; any suggestions for a replacement coil in the meantime? 

[DFeeney]

On my 1922  Studebaker Big 6 I removed the lower sheet metal covers over the flywheel and using a wire wheel on by die grinder cleaned the rust off the timing marks.  I then repainted them to aid  in the timing sequence.

[Stude Light]

I did this to help set the advance appropriately. It's nice to know where you are at vs guessing how far you are from a single mark. With modern fuels, I run my Light Six further advanced to improve overall performance.

 

How I came up with timing marks

[Patowncar]

On 5/5/2024 at 8:58 PM, Stude Light said:

I did this to help set the advance appropriately. It's nice to know where you are at vs guessing how far you are from a single mark. With modern fuels, I run my Light Six further advanced to improve overall performance.

 

How I came up with timing marks

Thanks, I'll look to use it.