Frozen Distributor

[John_Mc]

My 1970 Torino GT has a distributor that just will not budge. For days it's been sitting in penetrating oil will no luck. I've tried tapping on it and using a metal oil filter wrench all to no avail. This car needs new ignition points and I do not want to put them in since I cannot re-time the engine. So what do I do? Someone told me that dry ice on the distributor shaft will shrink it, anyon know about that? Should I just keep soaking it and wait? Of course the shaft casing is cast aluminum I belive and the intake manifold is iron - not a very good combination after almost 40 years! I've had some say just break it and get a new one, but I'm a purist and can't stand to destroy something if it is avoidable. Anyone have a neat trick? Thanks for all the input.

John McCarthy

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Crystal Lake, IL

[Guest Silverghost]

I have had this same problem on that era Fords. The Aluminum corrodes and creeps into the cast iron manifold and block & the rubber upper O-ring prevents liquid wrench products from getting down to the corrosion. I have used a long chain type or strap type plumbers wrench to get more leverage and work it back and forth. As a last resort a three jaw slide hammer attached to the distributor and very lightly tapping on the slide hammer upwards shoud extract the frozen unit without any damage to it or your engine. I use anti-sieze compound when re-installing these units!

The Ice or, Dry ice if you can find it, in a plastic bag while heating the engine by running it is also a great idea. The problem I see here is the cold will possibly not go deep enough as these aluminum Ford units have multi-steps that reach about six inches into the block.

Good Luck!

[John_Mc]

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep you posted.