Long story short, I “upgraded” alternators to a 10SI unit from Summit. Made the mistake of running it temporarily in a “single power wire to the battery” format. Fried my coil. I’m anticipating having to replace the Accel module in the distributor too. Originally hired that installed 7 years ago and have zero experience with distributors. Have the rotor off. There is one screw with a weird head on it that bolts the Accel module on. It’s about as hard to reach as possible and butted up against the firewall. Furthermore, the mechanical advance things are right above it, so hard to even get an L-shaped driver on it.

Does anybody know what kind of screw head this is? It ain’t Phillips. Maybe it’s Pozi? A.I. thinks it might be some Japanese “JIS” screw head. I’m afraid of camming it out with the wrong tool. Maybe I have to pull the tower out? I don’t know how to do that. Pics……

 

I think hogged out phillips by prior installer. Baby vice grips might be able to grab head and get it loose and you could replace with another screw.

 

Remove the springs attaching the weights to the center metal cam football then remove the weights for better accessibility to the screw.

 

Definitely a phillips. Maybe try to remove the weights to gain a straighter shot at it?

Dang, Norm beat me to it.

 

 

Also, use a long cross-tipped (Phillips) screwdriver to impart the greatest amount of torque you can achieve when wrestling the cross-tipped screw head applying maximum downward force.

 

Thank you! Priceless info. I was afraid to mess with those springs or anything else I’m unfamiliar with as that normally leads me further on down that rabbit hole. You gave me the confidence to give it a shot.

P.S. I’ve used ChatGpt some on my car work lately. It can be helpful with some general mechanical advice. But don’t trust it on car specific things. It was trying to tell me that the rotor should just “pull off” despite me showing it a pic of those 2 little nuts. It was adamant and suggested I apply leverage to pop it off. I finally ignored it, removed those 2 nuts, and the rotor and skirt fell right off. Then I told it that it was a dumb rear and showed it an after pic. It was like, “my bad. I’ll own that one.” Sheesh.

 

There is more than one reason why it is referred to as Artificial!

 

Take a picture (phone) of the weights and center cam football before removal. Re-install in the same exact orientation - springs, football & weights.

 

It looks like one of those "Unisex" screws you might find. The baby Vise Grips as suggested by Koda may work if you have room. You might be able to gain better vertical access by bumping the engine a bit to rotate the distributor shaft. You only need to remove the counterweight and spring on the side above the screw.
I would NOT use a Phillips screwdriver because you could auger out the cross pattern. Use a small straight slot screw driver thats just big enough to fit in the biggest slot. Maintain downward pressure on the screwdriver when turning the screwdriver.
If you need a little leverage, clamp a Vise grip to the screwdriver shaft. Replace the screw with a new one.

ChatGpt ? You're joking, right ?

 

I find it easier to remove the distributor and work on it on my bench.

 

Philips tips come in various sizes. Try a PH3 tip with the proper hex driver. Or get a few hex bit inserts in size 1, 2 3. File the tips to get a custom/best fit. Then replace that fastener with a button head cap screw. Button heads come in Allen and Torx. See McMaster Carr for grade 3 or 5 fasteners.

 

Good thing I checked back in before going at it. More opinions. My first approach will be baby vise grips, perhaps of the needle nose type. Didn’t even know they existed. Theres a little 4” Irwin unit on Amazon for under $10. If that gets a good bite on it, I bet it will break free. If that fails it’s either football removal or distributor removal or both. Again, I’m distributor stupid, which is why I paid somebody to do it the first time. I’m afraid of not getting the weights back on right or having the distributor in the right position and flipping up the timing and all that. Lastly, I don’t even know for sure it’s defective. I’ll get a new coil, wire it, and try it first.
As for coils I’m not even sure what to get. I’d rather have one like OEM so I don’t have to bypass the resistor wire. It mounts horizontally and Pertronix said oil filled should be mounted vertically for longevity. OPGI seems to have the basic OEM style for about $20. Of course shipping will be about $1 million, because you know, it’s OPGI.

I do have all those bits pictured above and will definitely change to that hex style. A little Allen wrench would make things much easier.

 

Menards and Home Depot probably have them on hand. I have bought several of them there.

 

If you bump the engine a little with the starter, those mechanical advance weights will move out of the way.

 

You can buy a coil from any one of your local auto parts stores. No need to buy common items like that from a restoration house.

 

The need for the ignition resistor wire is not defined by the coil choice, it is required if you use mechanical points instead of a solid-state module.

 

These pliers are great for removing screws, even button head cap screws.


https://www.mcmaster.com/products/pl...ew-extraction/

Noel

 

The early winner here is “bumping the starter.” I’ve mastered the art. In its best possible location, I have vertical access. Even with a little play in those footballs, however, it isn’t quite a straight shot. The angle of attack will be a few degrees off axis, but with the right bit and downward pressure, I think it’ll come out. And I discovered a 2nd screw which was obscured from view by the wires exiting the back of the module. Nevertheless, I won’t attempt it until replacing the coil first and seeing if the system works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I just know that many have experienced premature failure of their solid state modules, so much so that they carry a spare in the car.
And I sit here wondering now if those modules prefer a 12v source. Perhaps they run “ok” for a while behind a 9+ volt resistor’d coil, but fail prematurely because of it. And so it begs the question, should I bypass the resistor wire and run a new constant switched 12v source from the fuse box and choose a coil compatible with that setup? Decisions.