willysmjeeps.com

My '51 M38 has always had a more than normal Putt Putt while idling. This is with both the stock waterproof carb and a Civi WO carb. One of my Jeep pals told me to check the distributor advance weights and springs. Also the shaft bushings and advance cam for looseness. Yesterday I removed the distributor and took it to the work bench. I compared the looseness with other known good distributors of both mentioned areas and found them to be good. I removed the breaker plate to look at the flyweights and springs and sure enough, one spring was literally flopping around on it's posts. I installed a new spring and very lightly bent the outward post slightly outward to just take up any slack. Points looked fantastic and not burned so I didn't change them while there. The top bushing in the distributor is lubed by a felt wick that is under a slotted head plug in the side near the incoming battery/coil voltage lead. I removed the plug and used a decking screw to pull out the wick. I cleaned and copiously oiled it and put it back. You can't oil it when installed in the engine. I wish it had a better way like the civi autolites, but that won't work well in the surf while assaulting a island full of enemies . Anyway, it really helped with the Putt Putt. Check yours while you have it out. Oilly

Glad to see that as mine does the same thing. More than I like to hear.
Will check that out and reply back when I get a chance.

Thanks

Pay attention to the orientation of the advance cam if you remove it. You can put it back 180 degrees off from where it was.

Also park you engine at 5 degree BTDC in case you lose where things were. Note which cylinder/plug wire the rotor was pointing to so you get it back where it was.

I red grease pencil marked things so they went back where they were.