Lube for distributor cam
- Thread starter Rbrown
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Any'ol grease. Just a dab.
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Originally Posted By: ctrcbob
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Not many, Does SAE teach that now? I remember rebuilding a few quadrajets. I still have my timing light.
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Not many, Does SAE teach that now? I remember rebuilding a few quadrajets. I still have my timing light.
They made a high temp. lube for distributor cams. Actually I believe I still have some. It came in a small tube.
Originally Posted By: Rbrown
I have a distributor with points. What is a good lube for the distributor cam? RDB
Still available, I have a tube.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-26015
Delco had it as well but I haven't seen it for years, it was the same thing.
I have a distributor with points. What is a good lube for the distributor cam? RDB
Still available, I have a tube.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-26015
Delco had it as well but I haven't seen it for years, it was the same thing.
I remember distributors and points! A small dab of grease will do- and I mean small. They used to put a small capsule of grease with a set of new points, guess they don't do that any more.
Originally Posted By: ctrcbob
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Me. I love the simplicity.
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Me. I love the simplicity.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: ctrcbob
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Moi - still have them in my 70 MK III...
How many people remember what a distributor is? Or a distributor cam, or points, or Condensor, or dwell meter, or even a carburetor?
Moi - still have them in my 70 MK III...
None of my vehicles have points but I still have all the tune-up tools except for the analyzing scope I had. Snap-on timing light with the advance feature and a tach-dwell meter with the cylinder shorting out feature and it still works.
I work on them everyday. I have two sun scopes and a gas analyzer. There's not many people that know how to work on them anymore.
I sold my 73 international pickup last year and it had points in it. Dwell was 28-32 as are/were most american v8's.
Originally Posted By: marc1
Originally Posted By: Rbrown
I have a distributor with points. What is a good lube for the distributor cam? RDB
Still available, I have a tube.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-26015
Delco had it as well but I haven't seen it for years, it was the same thing.
That tube of grease is only $6,128.64/gallon. I wonder if there's any profit in it.
I've still got a tube of point lube by Standard Electric Products.
Originally Posted By: Rbrown
I have a distributor with points. What is a good lube for the distributor cam? RDB
Still available, I have a tube.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-26015
Delco had it as well but I haven't seen it for years, it was the same thing.
That tube of grease is only $6,128.64/gallon. I wonder if there's any profit in it.
I've still got a tube of point lube by Standard Electric Products.
The standard for lubing rubbing blocks has always been dielectric grease. That is usually all those 'distributor cam lubes' are
I was born in the end days of carbs, most of them were computer controlled in my childhood, but my first car I bought when I turned 16 in 1999 was a 70 Nova with a points distributor and a Rochester 2GC carbed 307. I quickly put a 383 stroker with a 3x2 setup and a mallory points distributor with a Petronix in it. So I recall carbs very well. I had three to work on when something went wrong. lol
Back when all cars had ignition points, the new point sets came with a small vial of grease for the rubbing block. Plenty to smear around over the rubbbing block and the cam lobes. As I recall, it was about the same viscosity as white lubriplate, but was more jelly-like in nature.
Sometime in the 1980s, point sets didn't have that little vial of lube in them anymore, typically. As I still had a few points-equipped cars back then AND knowing the necessity of lube for the rubbing block, I set out to find some "point grease" at some local auto supplies.
First stop, PepBoys. The young military guy behind the counter brought out some chassis lube, smiling as if he had gotten what I wanted. I kindly told him that point grease was not chassis lube. Another auto supply and the manager knew what I wanted and thought he had some on an end-cap display, but we couldn't find it. Another local auto supply and the young guy keyed on chassis grease. I kindly said that was not what I was after, so he sent to seek information from "the office", then came back and said "We don't have any, sorry." He got "points" for at least trying!
A few weeks later, I was in a SuperShops store and discovered a large tube of Mallory Point Lube on their wall. It was quickly converted to my posession. Just as I had remembered it, but now a super-life-time supply. Later, though, I loaned it to a friend and that's where it probably is now, about 15 years later. I believe that GM had some in their "standard parts catalog" under "Lubes", back then, too.
In the interim, many people complained about poor point longevity in their eaerlier '70s cars, like 8K before new points would be needed, when we used to get 15K out of them "back then". So, yes, that grease/lube IS important.
All of the dielectric grease I've found is somewhat waxy in nature, but liquifies nicely on rubber items (hood bumpers, etc.). Never heard of it being used as "point grease", though. I would suspect that a thin layer/wiping of some higher quality syn chassis grease (possibly Ford-spec with moly) might work well, but it's got to be light enough to not cause any additional drag and build heat, as a result.
Another area of concern is worn cam lobes in older engines. Until you use a dial indicator to set the point gap, you might not realize just how wear can affect how tall the cam lobe peaks are not OR how they are not all the same.
Lack of point rubbing block lube and worn cam lobes can make a good case for an electronic ignition system, of some kind.
Just some observations . . .
CBODY67
Sometime in the 1980s, point sets didn't have that little vial of lube in them anymore, typically. As I still had a few points-equipped cars back then AND knowing the necessity of lube for the rubbing block, I set out to find some "point grease" at some local auto supplies.
First stop, PepBoys. The young military guy behind the counter brought out some chassis lube, smiling as if he had gotten what I wanted. I kindly told him that point grease was not chassis lube. Another auto supply and the manager knew what I wanted and thought he had some on an end-cap display, but we couldn't find it. Another local auto supply and the young guy keyed on chassis grease. I kindly said that was not what I was after, so he sent to seek information from "the office", then came back and said "We don't have any, sorry." He got "points" for at least trying!
A few weeks later, I was in a SuperShops store and discovered a large tube of Mallory Point Lube on their wall. It was quickly converted to my posession. Just as I had remembered it, but now a super-life-time supply. Later, though, I loaned it to a friend and that's where it probably is now, about 15 years later. I believe that GM had some in their "standard parts catalog" under "Lubes", back then, too.
In the interim, many people complained about poor point longevity in their eaerlier '70s cars, like 8K before new points would be needed, when we used to get 15K out of them "back then". So, yes, that grease/lube IS important.
All of the dielectric grease I've found is somewhat waxy in nature, but liquifies nicely on rubber items (hood bumpers, etc.). Never heard of it being used as "point grease", though. I would suspect that a thin layer/wiping of some higher quality syn chassis grease (possibly Ford-spec with moly) might work well, but it's got to be light enough to not cause any additional drag and build heat, as a result.
Another area of concern is worn cam lobes in older engines. Until you use a dial indicator to set the point gap, you might not realize just how wear can affect how tall the cam lobe peaks are not OR how they are not all the same.
Lack of point rubbing block lube and worn cam lobes can make a good case for an electronic ignition system, of some kind.
Just some observations . . .
CBODY67
Kestas
Staff member
I converted my 71 Cutlass to Petronix ignition, so it doesn't need the cam lube anymore.
My 57 Chevy L6 had a cup screwed on the side of the distributor that was initially filled with grease. During service every 1000 miles, the mechanic gave the cup one turn to lube the cam.
My 57 Chevy L6 had a cup screwed on the side of the distributor that was initially filled with grease. During service every 1000 miles, the mechanic gave the cup one turn to lube the cam.
I had a 72 Catalina. With points you have a resistance wire that results in less than 12 volts going to the distributor - prevents burning the points. Those old Delco distributor caps with the "hatch" on the side were a pain. Every time I drove too fast through a big puddle I had to stop and dry out the inside of the cap.
Ultimately, I purchased a used distributor (HEI) from a 75 Pontiac. Had to play with different combinations of weights and springs to get the advance curve right. Ran a straight 12 volt wire to it. It improved fuel economy and doubled the life of the spark plugs.
Ultimately, I purchased a used distributor (HEI) from a 75 Pontiac. Had to play with different combinations of weights and springs to get the advance curve right. Ran a straight 12 volt wire to it. It improved fuel economy and doubled the life of the spark plugs.
Bosch makes a special grease that the techs at the German car shops have used for decades. I believe it is a very unique grease. It is in a yellow tube similar to a small toothpaste tube. Bill
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