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I posted in the thread by westcomvic that my '53 quit running yesterday too. I took the dist cap off this morning and found this broken spring wedged in next to the coil:



I checked my ORD 9 SNL G-758 parts book. The dist is on page 116. The broken spring looks like Item P part # AL-IGB-284, the spring that attaches to the weight below the breaker plate.

I also noticed quite a bit of small shiny flecks scattered about inside the dist.

I'm guessing my dist may be due for a rebuild.

Well I guess this means Spring has sprung! Hopefully it just needs a spring and cleanup. That shouldn't be too tough , but if it quit running, what else got it? There thankfully are lots of 24 volt distributors on epay often. Time for Lucas??????? john

oilleaker1 wrote:Well I guess this means Spring has sprung! Hopefully it just needs a spring and cleanup. That shouldn't be too tough , but if it quit running, what else got it? There thankfully are lots of 24 volt distributors on epay often. Time for Lucas??????? john

Thanks for the reply John! Yes, spring has definitely sprung. I'm going to pull the dist. this week. No experience rebuilding dist, so I'll be doing some homework on that. I'm sure there's something on that topic here in the forum. I'm also checking with some of the military supply sources for a rebuilt. I checked ebay but didn't see rebuilts there at the moment, but I'll keep checking. NOS would be nice but is not in the budget.

And while I'm at it I'm going to address the "hard start when warm" issue. I found a good thread Wes posted on the subject awhile back that I'm going to use to help solve that one.

I briefly considered switching over to 12 volt, but I've abandoned that idea.

The Lucas stuff has been running well lately. I've just done a semi-detail of the engine and compartment on the '71 without pulling the engine so it is partially disassembled while I wait for some new gaskets, etc. It actually cleaned up pretty good for a 40 year old. Getting it ready for the Idaho British Car Club Summer Tour to McCall later in the month.

Jack

The distributor rebuild is in TM 9-1825B which is in our downloads section.

wesk wrote:The distributor rebuild is in TM 9-1825B which is in our downloads section.

Thanks Wes, found it a little while ago. Took me a few minutes to realize that the pages are not in order in the post. Once I figured that out, it made a lot more sense.

So, after rechecking the ORD 9 parts book and reading the download here, it looks to me like that spring I found is one of the springs attached to the governor weights.

I've checked with two of the military vehicle parts suppliers and neither has new springs. Sounds like there is not a source for them.

Still hoping to get time this week to pull the dist out and check it over.

As with most of the other stuff I do on these old Jeeps, I'm learning as I go, so I hope you'll bear with me if I "think out loud" in some of my posts. Helps me get things sorted out.

Jack, theres a 24V dist core in a box in the barn, let me see if theres
a spring in it.. give me a day or 2.

RICKG wrote:Jack, theres a 24V dist core in a box in the barn, let me see if theres
a spring in it.. give me a day or 2.

That's a great offer Rick, you're good guy!

I talked to a guy up here today who had one sitting on a shelf in his shop. I just brought it home but haven't had a chance to take it apart yet. So hold off on the digging through the barn until I have a chance to take a look at this one.

Jack, I checked yesterday PM and i do have the springs-
If your other guy can't help you just say the word..

RICKG wrote:Jack, I checked yesterday PM and i do have the springs-
If your other guy can't help you just say the word..

Thanks Rick, the dist I got is complete and has some springs in, so I think I'll be okay. I talked with a local shop owner here who has a box full of dist. springs. I'm going to see if we can compare and find a suitable match.

Looks to me like finding replacement springs could be an issue for all of us. I'm going to work on finding a spring part number from current supplies that matches the springs in the 24V dist.

Keep in mind that the spring you choose will determine the centrifugal advance curve that you will end up with. The tension is very critical to getting the proper advance curve. Size and shape is secondary to the measured tension the spring develops when selecting replacement springs.

The early M38 distributors:

IAU4004UT (external noise filter)
IAU4006UT (Internal noise filter)

Use:
IGE24 springs 2 EA
IGE24S 2 spring set.

The M38A1 distributor which was eventually the superseding replacement for both M38 distributors:

Use:
IGB284 springs 2 EA
IGB284S 2 sporing set.

You can check the selected springs you choose by profiling the resultant advance curve they produce in your distributor.

The IAU4004UT and IAU4006UT distributors use advance curve C2-P22.

The IAU4006AUT used advance curve 1046.

Curve C2-P22:
0 deg 275 RPM, 1 deg 385 RPM, 6 deg 925 RPM, 10 deg 1365 RPM, 11 deg 1470 RPM.

Curve 1046:
0 deg 300 RPM, 1 deg 425 RPM, 6 deg 1050 RPM, 10 deg 1575 RPM, 11 deg 1700 RPM.

The reason for the different curves were the L134 for the early curve and the F134 for the later curve.

Surplus City lists the late set but show POR:
http://www.surplusjeep.com/M38A1/m38a1- ... trical.htm

Thanks for the info on distributors, springs, etc. Wes. I've copied it into my files for future ref. I don't claim to understand it all, but I know it will be helpful to me and others.

Now for the next question.

I've been looking over the distributor I got yesterday. My inexperienced eye tells me that the bearings feel tight around the shaft, the weights are tight on their pivots and the springs look good.

The guy I got it from said he thought it came out of a running vehicle.

Can I replace the dist currently in the Jeep with this other one?

Here's the info on the two dists.

Dist currently in Jeep: Superior Mag Corp, Mfg's No. SM-1004

Dist got from Tom: Prestolite IDA-4601 UT



Large pic: http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab15 ... romTom.jpg



Large pic: http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab15 ... romTom.jpg

Edited by Wes K to reduce photo size withing posting limits.

Is it just me or is that a M151 distributor, wrong one? Look at the ones on ebay right now. Look at yours. Do they match? John

IDA4601UT distributor is a 6 cyl left rotation unit that uses a different advance curve weights and springs. Also drive shaft differs.

wesk wrote:IDA4601UT distributor is a 6 cyl left rotation unit that uses a different advance curve weights and springs. Also drive shaft differs.

Well, that's too bad. Thanks for setting me straight. Back to square one.