pulling the distributer

[junkyardog]

put a new carb on and she still skips. going to try to rest the points. should i pull the shield off the fender or pull the distributer

[isaac_alaska]

my truck has no shields, and it makes it real easy to work on the distributor, especially if you're gonna be in and out of there multiple times before you get it running right. take the panel off and it's real easy to access the 6 dizzy cap screws, take the cap off, and see if the rotor turns and springs back, something like 10 or 15 degrees. that's the mechanical flyweight advance, and if it doesn't rotate easily that's a likely source of your issue

[RMS]

I run 2 screw on the cap and all the splash pans.

setting the points in place is easy with the right screwdrivers and shorty feelers. if the dizzy has not been serviced in living memory pull it. clean it, strip it, inspect it, clean it, paint it, assemble it, set the points @ .018 lube the wick and the shaft, clean it, install it, install cap and make sure the spring is seated in the coil. if you pull the cap from the cover do not over tighten and do a few dry runs putting the top on the base before installing the base in the block.

[junkyardog]

i pulled the distributer out ...it doesn't seem move or spring back the way it should.. i sprayed it a few times and it seems to move and spring back now...i hope it doesn't matter if it got turned... i know where number one wire is and where it was pointing... and i brought it up on a commpression stroke... would the rotor not springing back give me the sputering issue... pulled the friggin wire out of the douglas thing to damit... do they sell the wire... looks like it goes in the cab on the passenger side... I'm not really interested in pulling the whole thing apart.. i will put new points ini didn't see no wik thing to oil

[isaac_alaska]

it doesn't matter if it got rotated from where you pulled it out, it only goes back in one way (unless it was swapped for a civilian unit, but it sounds like that's not the case.)
the felt wick is inside the unit, but you can oil it without dis-assembly through the little oil cup port on the side. the cup should have a metal spring-loaded lid. the cup itself threads into the unit, with the same thread as a grease zerk...on mine someone had replaced it with a grease zerk and greased it at high pressure. not good!
rotor not springing would cause your issue, as it wouldn't be advancing the timing correctly. you wouldn't notice it at high RPM/low load, or High load/low RPM, but it would definitely affect high rpm/high load (as you'd see at higher vehicle speeds.)
that wire that feeds it is the 24V feed that energizes the coil. without that wire, it won't spark.

[junkyardog]

THANK YOU

[point]

I had a hell of a time trying to figure out what was wrong with my m37. Thanks to RSM for lending me a spare distributer. As it turned out, the shaft bushing was worn. The thing would not run under load or do over 30 mph. Close to being fixed now.

[RMS]

good to hear you got it figured Point. going through all this rigamarole will be beneficial down the road.