OEM V6 Distributor: Any Options to Reduce Corrosion / Oxidization on the POLE PIECE? (Page 6/6)
Vintage-Nut JUN 09, 03:10 PM
Patrick JUN 09, 07:18 PM

If nothing else, reinhart sure knows how to hold a grudge.

I was wondering why the heck reinhart has been going on and on and on about his disapproval of a simple distributor modification. I was wondering why it was bothering him so much, to the point where he's embarrassing himself. And then it hit me... he's never gotten over an exchange he and I had almost two years ago!

It was Sept of 2021, the height of the pandemic and COVID etc. In a tech thread Here about the necessity or not of a having recall work done, reinhart posted the following...


quote
Originally posted by reinhart:

It's like the jab except for your Fiero. It's all for looks and nothing good will come of getting it done. At best it will be as good as it was before but at worst something bad could go wrong.



I responded and politely requested that personal opinions regarding the "the jab" be relegated to the O/T area of the forum.

Well, reinhart didn't like that... and it appears he's still not over it. (Read the thread!)

I don't care if reinhart doesn't wish to get himself vaccinated, and I don't care if reinhart doesn't wish to install a heat sink on his distributor. I'm certainly not insisting he (or anyone else) needs to do either... the "jab" or the heat sink. People can decide for themselves. But man oh man, this ongoing criticism of a simple modification is beginning to indicate signs of a possible personality disorder. It's just not normal behavior!
OldGuyinaGT JUN 09, 11:10 PM
I would like to redirect this thread to the question originally posted.

IMO the best way to address the issue is shown in this thread:

Tech discussion on 2.8 V-6 distributors

I like the later design because I believe the spark timing is more consistent with it. The original has the possibility of non-uniformly bent 'fingers', where the second generation design has no such possibility. (If both designs are perfectly manufactured and assembled, the performance difference, if any, is probably minimal.)

The reason I call the one with the 'star wheel' a 'second generation design' is that it is not a strictly aftermarket piece. I owned a 1986 2.8L Firebird when new and it came from the factory with this type. In fact, the first time I saw the 'first generation design' was on this forum a few years ago. If it was my car, I would change to this 'second generation design'. Not only is it likely to have more consistently formed parts, it seems to be a lot less susceptible to corrosion. I've had several V6 and V8 engines with this design and none have shown much corrosion on the internal parts (to be fair, I live in semi-arid Colorado and average relative humidity here is pretty low).

Interesting tidbits-
- For the cars I've had that came with factory "star wheel" distributors, none of the factory manuals I have make any mention of measuring/setting the base timing on more than the #1 cylinder (I was surprised and curious when I saw that the Fiero factory manual said to also time the #4 cylinder and split the difference to set it). I believe this difference is because the spark timing [i]can[/i] be less consistent on the first gen design. At any rate, I did check #4 a couple of times and found no difference in timing between #4 and #1.

-Even with the second gen distributor, I was getting what I felt was an unacceptable amount of spark scatter. I added shims to reduce the considerable end play in the shaft, and also shimmed the distributor between it and the manifold to center the distributor gear on the cam gear. These steps reduced the scatter dramatically (verified by timing light). I think this smoothed the idle some and also running in general. Those evaluations are completely subjective; I did not make any objective measurements to verify, but I can say with certainty that there was no negative effect.

Lastly, notes regarding the addition of heat sinks for the ICM-
Nearly everything the factory does is a compromise based on some cost-benefit analysis. Apparently, their conclusion was that what became the factory heat management of the ICM was good enough; in my experience, it has been. But adding a heat sink may or may not result in an improvement. At any rate, unless one displays total incompetence and completely screws up such an addition, it will not make matters worse. So if you like the idea, go for it. If you don't, don't.

[This message has been edited by OldGuyinaGT (edited 06-09-2023).]

Patrick JUN 10, 12:19 AM

quote
Originally posted by OldGuyinaGT:

Even with the second gen distributor, I was getting what I felt was an unacceptable amount of spark scatter. I added shims to reduce the considerable end play in the shaft, and also shimmed the distributor between it and the manifold to center the distributor gear on the cam gear. These steps reduced the scatter dramatically (verified by timing light).



I have a new 2nd generation distributor (Cardone 30-1633) on its way to me... and yes, I'll be tossing the no-name ICM and installing a heat sink on the distributor's base.

My question regards centering the distributor gear on the cam gear. How were you able to determine where the gears were meshing? Did you apply something to the distributor gear, and then see where it was wearing off after a few revolutions when meshed with the cam gear?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-10-2023).]

OldGuyinaGT JUN 10, 03:13 AM
To check the position of the distributor gear on the cam gear, I just used some marker grease I had left after setting up a ring and pinion in a rear axle some years ago. Seemed appropriate and I already had it.
reinhart JUN 10, 06:42 AM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:


If nothing else, reinhart sure knows how to hold a grudge.

I was wondering why the heck reinhart has been going on and on and on about his disapproval of a simple distributor modification. I was wondering why it was bothering him so much, to the point where he's embarrassing himself. And then it hit me... he's never gotten over an exchange he and I had almost two years ago!

It was Sept of 2021, the height of the pandemic and COVID etc. In a tech thread Here about the necessity or not of a having recall work done, reinhart posted the following...

I responded and politely requested that personal opinions regarding the "the jab" be relegated to the O/T area of the forum.

Well, reinhart didn't like that... and it appears he's still not over it. (Read the thread!)

I don't care if reinhart doesn't wish to get himself vaccinated, and I don't care if reinhart doesn't wish to install a heat sink on his distributor. I'm certainly not insisting he (or anyone else) needs to do either... the "jab" or the heat sink. People can decide for themselves. But man oh man, this ongoing criticism of a simple modification is beginning to indicate signs of a possible personality disorder. It's just not normal behavior!



Hilarious that you're literally scouring the forums for old posts where I proved you wrong in the past? And ironic you found this and quoted it and then claim two years later as an argument of me holding a grudge lol. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. ....especially since this was yet another example where I was proven right and you were proven wrong over the course of time. Oh the irony,,,,And another example of your failure to ever admit being wrong and pushing your death jab on poor uneducated folks that don't trust science. Ironically the jab and this silly heatsink have a lot on common: unproven, experimental, hope filled but factless dreams that at best would be neutral but at worst could actually make the situation worse. Yes now the truth has finally come out on the experimental death jab and I'll wait patiently for you to admit you were wrong two years ago with all the truth coming out about sudden adult death syndrome people, 20 year old atheletes dropping dead in the middle of soccer matches, and explosion of cancers since it rolled out, etc. Meanwhile I haven't been to a doctor in 20 years and run 50 miles a week and have had like one cold in the last 5 years. How's your health mate? Any myocarditis issues?

So here you've spent hours changing topics dredging up old threads, etc....trying to divert attention away from the topic of discussion which is the distributor and how your non-scientific eyesore is at best useless and at worst adding heat to the module for even earlier failure. With all that wasted time you could have actually added a basic heat sensor and proven me wrong....yet you weren't able to. And you thought it was a better use of time to dig through old unrelated threads in a desperate attempt to avoid discussing the failures of your design. Or perhaps you did test it and were once again proven wrong but are too proud to admit it so you change the subject to something totally irrelevant to the topic? hmmm

In two years you'll be pushing more non-scientific nonsense and we'll be revisiting this topic and you'll try to avoid admitting you were wrong about your silly dumb little decorative heatsink.

Funny how you were just tooting your horn about the greatness of your distributor setup and how it is unfailing and perfect now and then you posted a comment below about how you are ordering a new distributor. Oh the irony....and you'll be transferring your useless monstrosity over. You just can't make this stuff up. LOL

Regarding someone else's comment about the star shaped design distributor, On one of my Fieros, I did replace one distributor body with this star design based on some reports on here and moved my original IM over, without a silly heatsink, I might add. TBH I never noticed much of a difference with the new distributor design as far as idle or timing. I still have the old distributor and will just keep it as a spare since there was nothing wrong with it.
Patrick JUN 10, 05:49 PM

quote
Originally posted by reinhart:

And another example of your failure to ever admit being wrong and pushing your death jab on poor uneducated folks that don't trust science. Ironically the jab and this silly heatsink have a lot on common: unproven, experimental, hope filled but factless dreams that at best would be neutral but at worst could actually make the situation worse. Yes now the truth has finally come out on the experimental death jab...



Yep, I nailed it. I knew there was a reason for your totally irrational behavior. You're an absolute nutbar.