lubrification of the WD distributor

thanks in advance

I would be temped put a plug in that 3 bolt cover, and fill it from there.

seems like there was a post a few years back where someone filled cavity with grease ?

Wow! That looks like the Sahara Desert in there!  And by the looks of the wear on that Distributor drive gear, that's been dry for quite some time. Fill that cavity with EP Moly grease and cap it up. Hopefully, the drive gears will stick around for a while. Those particular drive assy's have a hole right above the long Distributor drive shaft. When you dump motor oil in though the drive housing to fill the crankcase, some oil goes in that hole as well to lube that long shaft. There is a hollow tube that runs down the side of that drive, but hardly any oil goes down that tube to get oil to the drive gears. Best to put some EP Moly grease in there like I suggested. Wash it out first with a little Brakekleen first and get the baby poop outta' there.

Steve@B&B

Steve,

That's an oil galley for lubrication to the Oilite mainshaft bushing. When Delco made the Distributor, after the mainshaft bushing is pressed into position they then fill the oil galley with machine oil and cap it off with the 1/8" NPT plug. Oilite bushings are already impregnated with oil (hence the name)  As the mainshaft spins and generates heat, the machine oil is absorbed into the oilite bushing to keep the mainshaft lubricated as well as the bushing. An optional thing when servicing those mainshafts is install a zerk fitting and pump grease into the cavity. Not much, just a pump or two, and you're good for a couple years. What the grease does is push the machine oil around the Oil lite bushing once again and keeps the bushing lubed. That machine oil stays in there for years n' years. Just about every Delco Distributor I rebuild, when I press the mainshaft bushing out, that machine oil runs right out the bottom. After rebuilding the Distributors, I do the same thing Delco did. Fill the oil galley with machine oil and cap it off... HTH

Steve@B&B 

Yup! That's the machine oil I was referring to. It could be Red in color or Amber. Sometimes when it's real old and funky lookin' it ain't either color!  

Steve@B&B

Chris... i can guarantee you , your ENGLISH is 100X better than our FRENCH !  

Nice looking 3 point.. Your well on your way with the overhaul.. 

That cavity gets grease put in it. When you dump oil in through the filler cap, most runs down to the oil pan. There is a little bit that goes in the hole to the main driveshaft, but not much gets down front to the Distributor. Clean the old muck out it (if it has some) and then Fill it with EP moly grease.

Steve@B&B

EP moly is short for Extreme Pressure Molybdenum Disulfide grease.  It is also frequently referred to as 'Open Gear Lube'.  You'll know it when you meet it, it likes to assume the character of a tattoo... like Anti-Seize compound, but a little worse, and REALLY stinky.

The problem with using an EP Moly OGL on agri equipment, is that it will grab absolutely EVERYTHING, including dirt.  The heavier dirt will fall off (and with it, take a little grease when it goes), but it WILL grab on and hold the fine abrasives, and turn it into polishing compound, so best to NOT use it on stuff that'd pick up lots of crud.  It'd be about perfect for this application.