Stuck Distributer

[BullRun]

Any ideas on getting a rusted in the block distributer to budge?

Currently soaking a 12 volt Century distributer shaft with a 50/50 ATF and acetone mixture on a RMC M38 block in the vehicle.

Vehicle runs and has full compression but can't be fully timed.

Now we know why it got parked in the shed! lol!

[Texbillhs]

Had the same thing - I tried everything - fancy new penetrating oils, heat, finally after months it was a pipe wrench that got it loose and then only a very little movement at a time, that, cheater bar, heat and wedges under the flange. You will have to take the fender off to have enough room to work. Mine was a 12v and I pretty much bitched it up - I put a Omix electronic on in it's place. I hear there is an electronic one for a 24v M38 - but that is hearsay - I haven't seen one. I found when I got mine off the penetrating oil never got in there - it was dry as a bone.

[wesk]

The aluminum when not coated with anti-seize as it should have been will dis-similar metal corrode and bond itself to the cast iron. Always be sure to coat the surfaces that lay against iron with anti-seize when you re-install it.

Patience is the key to removal of stuck ones. Penetrating oil only works if there is a space for it to go in. So if it does not budge period the penetrant won't work. The slickest method is to warm the cast iron with a torch then blast the distributor housing with CO2, Nitrogen or dry ice then quickly rap the housing with a brass drift on several sides while twisting a little left and right on the pipe wrench. You will have to repeat the heat cool several times while gaining a few degrees of rotation each time.

Electronic ignition systems are my pet argumentitive peave. They do not exist for our Willys 134's. An electronic ignition system is a system with several components including a few sensors and a brain. What is available are hall effect sensors that replace the mechanical ignition points only. This results in a breakerless ignition distributor not an electronic ignition system. The breakerless conversions have been around since the late 70's. For younger folks not familiar or desiring the amount of attention the old mechanical systems needed and unfamiliar with the adjustment and setting methods will usually opt for the breakerless. I have run both off and on over the last 40 years and find no difference in performance. Yes you will hear several folks sing praise for all the increased performance but that praise is not due to the new hall effect sensor. It only resulted in an increase in performance because the performance the troop was comparing the breakerless to was the performance of his jeep on the old mechanical points that were in dire need of replacement and /or way out of adjustment. And probably included a very tired condenser. I can assure you that even with a dynamometer comparing two identicle Willys 134's with one having a Pertonix kit and one having a newly and properly installed set of mechanical points and condenser will result in no measurable increase in performance. Ease and less frequent servicing is the only real claim the Pertronix folks can make. Not in their literature they never offer any scientific comparison testing data for any of their claims.

Yes you can buy the Pertronix breakerless conversion for any of the military distributors. You can eliminate the middlemen induced extra cost and buy direct. Several military parts vendors carry the kit and of course mark it up.

http://www.pertronix.com/

The kit you need is on page 19 of their catalog.
http://www.pertronix.com/catalogs/pdf/p ... ix2012.pdf

IAU-4006AUT 4cyl CCW notes 66, 67 kit MV-141A

Notes:
66 24-voltsystem
67 Mil-SpecWaterproof Ignition

[BullRun]

Thanks guys for the suggestions!

The distributer is stuck rock solid to the block. I am guessing due to the age of the distributer it has been on there for at least 50 years. Funny, this must be the secret that every previous owner never told the next guy when it was sold!

I am debating about pulling the engine to work on it. This would also give me an opportunity to inspect the clutch plate, etc. So much work though for what started as a simple tune up!

The engine has full compression like new so at least that is not an issue but getting the timing correct enough for anything beyond 2nd gear is impossible right now. The timing is just to way out.

I'll probably just use points when I eventually get it fixed... maybe even go back to the original 24 volt system although I believe everything currently on the vehicle is from original military and or government ownership. I am guessing it has been rebuilt at least twice since it left the factory. Army OD, USMC Green, Air Force Blue, and Bright Yellow like a Follow Me jeep are all former paint colors.

I recently uncovered OFFICIAL USE ONLI Y on the Kelly hard top painted originally in USMC green. Off center and with a typo!

[billybob]

Wesk - Thanks for the good advice about the anti-sieze. I'm a firm believer in it but I probably would'nt have thought to use it on the distributor.

[BullRun]

After spending the day trying to free the distributer with no luck I have given up trying to get it loose while in the jeep.

Tomorrow I will pull the engine and mount it on a stand.

I have read that tie rod splitters sometimes work so having the engine on a stand will make using one possible, There is just to much stuff in the way to get any significant leverage.

What a PITA! but at least it will get fixed after probably several decades of not being addressed.

I have decided to just get another 12 volt points distributer as that is the cheapest fix for the moment.

Wes, I think it was 4 Wheel or Off Road magazines recently had an article on a high performance kit made in the '50's for the L 134. It was apparently considered mostly an interesting novelty.

[wesk]

Actually in the late 50's and 60's Vic Hickey did a ton of performance upgrades on the Willys 134. You should try researching the old issues of Off Road and Hot Rod for the articles. That's where I read most of those articles back then. He produced aluminum heads, dual 2BBL manifolds, profiled cams and quite a bit more. Those goodies today are priced out of this world.

The tie rod seperator or Pickle Fork as it has been known for over half a century can easily damage that aluminum distributor housing. The heat and freeze method I have used successfully since the early 60's is the safest approach that produces the least amount of collateral damage.

[BullRun]

Yep, that's the stuff in the recent article. There was another reprint of dual wheel jeeps used for hill climbing. Interesting stuff! A little bit before my time! An interesting thing of note is that all the early Dune Buggies were based on an 80" wheelbase.

I would like to save the distributor as it works perfectly but it is literally welded to the block at this point. I am really worried about cracking the block or breaking off a chunk of the mounting boss while trying to fix it. At this point the distributer if sacrificed is OK as a new one can be easily sourced.

Not being an original distributer I keep wondering if this one was crammed into the block to fit. The distributer body is pot metal so it would probably melt if I get too aggressive.

I appreciate the help!

[wesk]

You don't heat the distributor. You heat the block and rapidly cool the distributor. Works very nicely and nothing gets damaged.

[BullRun]

Made some headway in figuring out the problem. The distributer is not original and is pressed to far into the block by about a quarter inch.

Tomorrow will try the heat and freeze approach.

Thanks Wes for the tips!

[BullRun]

Good news! After about six hours of fooling with the distributer today I got it to break free. Now it moves a quarter inch either way. Soaking some more right now. Hopefully it will be totally out by the end of the week.

I used a wedge to pop the base out the quarter inch it was to deep. Then heated the shaft and let it cool multiple times instead of freezing it. I knew the pot metal outer shell by the cap would not take the heat and it got brittle and cracked and broke off as I expected. Does not matter as there are no distributer caps available for this brand anymore that I have found. At least it can now be made road drivable. Probably the first time for that in decades.

Not elegant but it worked.