1st breakdown & hopefully last.

[jbcollier]

http://www.v-performance.com/products/air_fuel.html

[jbcollier]

On your distributor...

Wow!  That's a major failure, quite a bit more than chewed up gears!

I'm confused by your description.  Nothing can "fall" off in the distributor and then make its way down into the engine while the distributor is in place.  I suppose something could fall in the hole while the distributor is out.  It's not a common issue though.

[BDA]

I think the theory is that rjbaren dropped the condenser screw into the dizzy and the screw jammed the dizzy so that it couldn't turn.

I'm anxious to hear what the engine builder says about it.

[BDA]

I don't know about your theory, but the jackshaft gear, oil pump gear and distributor gear all broke in my car once upon a time and it had been running for years.  The worst part was that the distributor kept going around.  The oil pump did not.  I realized I had a problem when the engine seized.  It did not scuff the bores, but I had to regrind the crank and replace a few con rods.  I also replaced the jackshaft , oil pump (high pressure, not high flow) and ignition system.  I have a distributorless ignition.

FYI, I learned that the high volume, high pressure oil pumps on the market today have the tendency to destroy the drive gears.  I bought one and then read about the issues, and never installed it.  I didn't want to go through that again. 

So, your experience is not unique, and it could always be worse😊

Did you ever figure out what caused your failure?

What sort of ignition do you have?

[jbcollier]

I have seen many distributors in very poor condition.  I have never seen one lock and break the distributor drive gear.  Chew itself to pieces internally?  Sure.

[SENC]

Wow, that is significant for sure!  It is obvious you trust your guy, and I fully suspect you should, but if they rebuilt that distributor I'd be tempted to grab a lot of pictures and see if you can get another expert to opine.  Martin Jay at Distributor Doctor (UK) might be someone who has done/seen enough to give you an opinion based on pictures, he's been very helpful to me at various times.

I'd also suggest the Strombergs aren a heckuva lot better than they get credit for being, most of the issues I've found have been related to federal emissions setups or mechanics that just don't have experience with them.  If you decide to change, though, and want to unload the Stombergs let me know - an extra set even if just for parts would be welcomed and might help you recoup some of the cost of new ones.

[rjbaren]

Since the car is not running I decided to finish my headlight and radiator fan relay installation.  Car will go the shop tomorrow.

[rjbaren]

Here is the update regarding the distributor.  First a quick recap - I dropped the condenser screw into the distributor.  Before I removed the distributor to remove the screw, I rolled the car in gear to get the engine to TDC.  I also noticed the rotor not turning.  I pulled the distributor and found the broken distributor gear and a missing tooth on the jackshaft by taking a photo in the distributor hole.
The engine was pulled at a shop in late September and I took it back to the engine builder who just opened it up this week 12/9/20 to find the gear and jackshaft were damaged by the condenser screw I dropped into the distributor.  So, I am the cause of all the destruction as the screw jammed against the body and when I rolled the car in gear, and the damage occurred.  The engine builder removed the pan and valve cover and has cleaned everything out and found the bores are clean, the rod and main bearings are also clean and the cams look fine too.  He has replaced the jackshaft and distributor gear.  Now comes the fun part.
I decided to drop even more money into the car.  Since the engine is out and going back on the dyno before reinstallation, I took JB Collier's advice and ordered a pair of Mikuni carbs to replace my recently "Joe Curto" rebuilt Strombergs.  I am replacing the water transfer tubes with stainless tubes from RD Enterprises.  I have also ordered Spax shocks for the rear to match the fronts.  I ordered the Dave Bean cartridge water pump and will be replacing the points with a FAST electronic ignition system.
Lastly, I am have the shop that pulled and will be replacing the engine with a hydraulic clutch setup.
I hope to fill you in on the performance changes if any, with the Mikunis,  when the engine goes on the dyno next week.  I hate to think what would happen if my wife knew what I was spending on this car.

[TurboFource]

Really looking forward to seeing how the Mikunis perform!

[BDA]

My goodness rjbaren! I’d say you have taken a bad situation and turned it into a good opportunity to make some nice changes! I am looking forward to seeing more reports on the results of all those changes!

[jbcollier]

Ouch! (again)  Very, very sorry for your loss!

[Bainford]

Drinking the Kool-Aid.

I'm very interested to hear how things work out with the Mikunis.

[Kendo]

Aside from the Mikunis coming up, how close to stock is your engine? I'm interested in Mikunis, too and wonder if the jets and settings you settle on can be used  on an otherwise stock TwinCam.

[jbcollier]

Like Webers and Dells, the Mikunis are very adjustable.  Few differences though.  Idle jet covers idle and low speed.  Slide cut-away when the main kicks in.  The mid-range by the needle-jet (lower mid-range) and needle (higher mid-range).  The main for the rest.  4T versions have accel pumps for when the slide moves quickly.  Some also have power-jets which help trim the very, very top end (mostly 2T for the pipe effect).  The really nice thing is that they are a flat-slide carb so no throttle shaft and butterfly.  At WOT, it's a straight, open tube with only a thin needle and a small needle-jet in the air-flow.  Look down a Weber or Dell wide open.  There's still a lot of junk in there.

[TurboFource]

They come from the magical world of motorcycles where carb development was ahead of and continued to evolve after the automotive world abandoned them....