THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

im looking at the action of my distributor and i think that the springs inside are old because i don't like that its not snapping back to idle smooth enough. Is it an easy job replacing the springs in there ? any thoughts in general .

From my conversation with Glenn Ring, a foremost expert on Bosch distributors, I would not touch these springs. I have not found a place selling the replacement springs
and incorrect spring would cause incorrect advance as RPMs increase. Per Glenn's advice, no adjustments should be made to their tension by loosening the screws on a plate
as these are factory adjusted. Also springs appear to be distributor specific, but I cannot state that for sure.
Good news is that all parts but those springs are available for rebuild. Bosch parts kit exists. It does not include springs though. A good cleanup is most likely all you need. Goof-off did a miracle
on gummed oil deposits much to my surprise. Carb cleaner did not work at all. As for weights not returning to the "zero", I had the same problem and was thinking the same as you do. But the winged flange at the bottom of the shaft actually has a lot of play when inserted into the engine and what you may think is return to the true "zero" is actually play in the
winged nut. That play actually does not matter, as distributor is constantly driven in one direction.

Has anyone tried a recurve of the distributor. Hot rodders have recurved distributors for years ! Why this question, in Northern Indiana we are feeling the effects of present day fuel. When the weather drops below 50 we must run the trucks with "chokes" engaged, or experance poor running of the engine.

Advancing the timing is layed on for the weekend project to determine if this may correct the poor running, and adjust to poor quality of fuel. That is, more ethenol in the gasoline that maybe the culprit. Remember in the 70's we had leaded fuel.

The trucks have pertronic ignitions, new caps, rotors, wires and plugs. Carbs are adjusted as well as valves. Any imput is appreciated. mike

thanks og

I would head the words of Glen on these distributors. I have used him for years and he does amazing work. If it was me I would pull it and send it to him for cleaning and inspection. He has the factory tools and testers in his shop.
Last unit I sent to him was a beat down 019 I was wanting to use in my Oval window VW that I fitted with a Judson Supercharger. The better then new restoration cost about $200 as parts were needed.

Unfortunately Glenn does not want to touch Pinz distributors. But he did help me a lot by answering any question I asked him. Dumb ones included.