28HopUp

So my SSP started acting up, like I had bumped the timing. Plus, it was making a knocking sound near the front of the motor. I popped the cap off, and this is what was lurking underneath -




It's not supposed to be like that, right? I'm amazed that the car still ran at all! I guess the stock distributor has a bit of play in it, don't ya think? So should I get a factory replacement dizzy, or do you have a solid recommendation for an aftermarket unit? The drivetrain remains relatively stock.

mjr46

just go down to napa and get an oem replacement reman one Bill, Make sure you get one with a steel gear on it as iirc your 85 is carb/roller cam motor.

28HopUp

Thanks Mike. Nice to finally catch up with you at the track, despite only being a specator. It's always nice (well, usually it is at least) to put a face with the forum name. Your 85 looks great!

mjr46

Yeah , it was good to finally meet you too!!, don't feel bad about the spectator thing, that's all I was on saturday too.....couldn't afford to break this one, so I sat on the sidelines as well

28HopUp

Got home and checked the dist shaft under the cap. There is a small amount of side-to-side movement, but not much (1-2mm tops). However, there is ALOT of up & down movement in the shaft. I'd say st least 1/8" of vertical movement. It's certainly enough play to cause my rotor to go snap.

mjr46

well you really need to pull it out, Bill, with the Dizzy gear seated to the cam gear, you may not feel much side to side movement but as soon as it's pulled if that's the problem , you will notice alot of side to side play.......make sure you mark the rotor location in accordance with where it points on the grey cap locator so as to be able to drop it back in in the same location without having to really time it up from square one

28HopUp

Not the first time I've heard that!

Thanks for the input! Given the age of the car and the unknown maintenance/repairs by previous owners, I will pop for a new distributor. Thanks for the reminder on rotor placement. I just hope I can remove it and install without lifting/dropping the oil pump shaft into the pan (a common problem on my 289. Did Ford fix that on the more modern 5.0L?).

mjr46

there should be a slip ring on all of the dizzy shafts , expecially late model 5.0's to prevent that from occuring, so no worry