Ok, newbie error, after doing my first rebuild on a distributor I forgot to lube the cam. 20 miles and the points are no good anymore. Any suggestion on lube type for a distributor cam? On the bright side, I did get the car on the road for the first time.
Points used to come with a little packet of cam lube. Haven't bought points in a long time wonder if they still include some lube?
Try some Lubriplate white grease, but I think almost any grease would be fine. A small cellophane packet of grease used to often be included in the tune-up kits that used to be sold. Correction: Duuh!!! It's electric so use dielectric silicone grease!! C9 nailed the whole thing.
I'm already planning on buying Echlin points from NAPA as replacements (put in an old set of points from a spare distributor for the time being). I haven't dismissed the possibility of faulty "cheap" points, but running GOOD points DRY (this is a stock A engine) will grind down the little nub that seperates the metal in no time. That thing is tiny, and it only has be worn down enough where the cam hits the metal. Thanks for the info.
I found my tube of Standard point lube, and will post the part number when I remember to bringitin... It's still available, but howinhell do you explain what you are asking for to the 18 year old computer jockey who's neve heard of POINTS?? Also, Brattons sells it... Rumors abound that the good pro=level suppliers of points like Echlin, Standard, and Chung Fu Toxins are all switching to cheeeeep suppliers...
I think back "in the day" I used vasaline, chap stick and anything else I had on hand including chassis grease or what else was laying around. We weren't too picky back then ..
Wheel bearing grease,always used never a problem. While your at it pull the oil dipstick tube and touch it to all moving parts of distributor advance weights.It will put a drop of oil right where you want it !
One thing I notice on almost all the pics of points I've seen lately is there is no felt wiper strips on them.There are or were 2 Lubrication felts in point Distributors. One was a felt wiper strip that was on the point set itself and there is or was a second one in the top of the distributor shaft itself.You would put just a couple drops of oil on to these locations also a very small blob of standard lube would be placed just before the wiper felt on the dizzy cam so that as the engine turned the shaft the lube would get pushed up against the wiper and not just thrown around the inside the cap.Keep the felts moist but not dripping wet.The inside of your distributor is one place where over lubing things are just as bad as not lubing at all!Oil slobbered on the point contacts will cause them to burn out faster or atleast thats what GM taught me.If you run GM Uni-Points they are JUNK! I can't tell you how many of those things we had to change that were bad right out of the box!I remember changing 4 sets before getting a good one!
The felt strip or felt wheel with oil is used in some distributors Like older Mallory and Delco, cam lube is used on others. They shouldn't be mixed, though I guess either can be used to replace the other. Real cam lube has a bit of waxy feel and makes a firm semi permanent film on the cam once it wipes down, and unless grossly overused is made thick so it doesn't get thrown. I think some other greases may be a bit too thin for this essentially wiping application, and may just get wiped away. Chapstick is probably getting pretty close...
i hate to rain on this point parade, but di-electric grease is for heat disapation, and to promote electric conductivity, that is why small packets of it come with spark plug wire sets. its not really made for lubrcation. by the way, when installing new points, set them first before checking the timing, every degree of point dwell change equals one degree of change in intial ignition timing.
The right stuff for distributor cams is called, oddly, distributor cam lube or grease...it is compounded to stay there...it's cheap, and one tube is enough for about your next 6 lifetimes...why fight it?? Think how touched your great-grandchildren will be when they inherit your old tube of cam grease for their radium-powered bakelite Zeppelin...
Ky is good for everything. It's good to cary a tube in your pocket. However it ain't for shit on points. Lancaster's right. I too have a tube of cam lube from Standard ignition. It's made special for the heat that builds up in the dist housing. Anything but,will splatter and foul out your shit>>>>.
We have an AC Delco distributor close here in town, called Speedway Auto Parts. Any good delco distributor can get you a tube of Distributor Cam Lube. I bought mine a long time ago. It will last for ever. If I can remember I will look at it tonight and get back with you on the part number on the tube.
Found it. The new tubes are allot smaller than the old ones but it wil still last forever. Part U1901 12338672 Distributor Cam Lubricant (3 oz.)
Dielectric and insulator are synonymous. The small packets in most point sets are just common grease. Silicon grease is an excellent lubrication medium. If it was required for its dielectric qualities the car wouldn't run if the distributor cam and points rubbing block were dry.
One time 150 miles from home I had to get some grease off of a zirk on my drag link to lube the cam on my distributer. Got me home!
SL-2 is a current number for Standard point lube; I think the S is for silicon added to the petro in current formula. The Obsolete L-1 was nade by boiling down dinosaurs.
Which is where it ends up if you put it on the cam, lol. One thing I have noticed is the quality of rubbing blocks has declined miserable. I haven't installed a set of points in years that didn't go shut before the wear pattern set in on the rubbinbg block. Usually plan to reset the points in 500 miles nowdays. Also we were taught to never use a feeler guage in points (but nowdays I do) Until my last dwell meter died I always set them with that. On a Ford I did it with the spark plugs out, a remote starter switch and adjusted them with the engine spinning If a guy could just find some NOS Napa Gold points from the 60s-70s. They had a tougher spring and wouldn't bounce at high rpms like the cheaper ones did ( which were good for maybe 5 grand at best)
Yep...lube used to come in a small red capsule with the points. Guy came in once & got points for an old car he just bought...had no clue about point trigger ignition. When he asked what the capsule was for, one of my smartass counter guys told him it was a mild relaxant to be taken before he started the job, so he wouldn't get nervous when he changed the points.
Do points go bad from sitting around? I know that sounds crazy but can you emery cloth off any oxidation that may collect on the contacts from sitting around? I also try to pick up points from the guys selling old lots at swap meets. I was lucky enough to find NOS Ford point for my dizzy that I plan to stuff in there as well.
Points left sitting acquire some sort of patina, oxidation or whatever, that is non-conductive. Best thing is a flex-stone type fine abrasive. I put a '34 distributor that I rebuilt with new points a loooong time ago on the KRW fixture and discovered ZERO conductivity at the points...not a flicker from the indicator light. Fix requires just a few strokes with mild abrasive. The long flathead leaf springs do fail, in my experience only on distributors not in use. I suspect a tiny rust spot subjected to years of tension becomes a failure point. I now wax the springs... can't hurt, anyway! On the lube, the good grease has a waxy quality that keeps a slight film in place. Now matter how much you put on, the rubbing block will take it down to that in the first turn. Put on the least smear you can, as small excess will be wasted and substantial excess will be thrown somewhere you don't want grease.
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