Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
I've done it a few times with Packard 440 and Rajahs...I suspect it's a lot harder with pre-cut and terminated wires.
I cut a set of wires with fairly generous excess length for each and stuff them through the conduits and then the channels on the outer cap, leaving minimal extra length on this end. This part is easier if you carefully stack the wires in the squareish channels. Put on the terminals first. Mark each wire back where it comes out of the steel tube with its number so you can identify the correct stub at the cap by using a simple circuit tester. Shove each end into the proper socket in the cap, keeping track of numbers carefully. When done check placement of wires again where they go through the outer cap conduits and shove them back into formation for easiest fit...any cross-ups here will fight you.
Slowly pull outer cap down to position, being careful not to pull any wires up in their sockets...just before the gap is gone shove'em all down one last time with needle nose pliers. Clip caps together, and with your circuit tester test from inner distributor contacts to far ends of the wires.
Now, sliding the rubber boots down (with a bit of an extra fight with coil wire) is fairly easy, then of course slide the steel tube down while pulling out on the plug end leads to ease things. At this point, the mess is reduced to a distributor assembly with two fairly compact floppy conduits.
Final cut is done by routing the protruding wires to their plugs, cutting them to achieve the arch you want identical on all of them. Terminating is then simple, especially with Rajahs.
With decent quality wire you shouldn't have to fight this fight again for a long time.
Distributor point service, timing, etc. is done by simply removing the two distributor bolts, popping off cap and rotor, and wiggling distributor out for bench service, leaving the cap dangling on the wires.
Check, check, check to avoid fouling up the firing order...you do NOT want to have to pull this stuff apart for correction!