I had my 23 Star C Touring with a W-4 engine out for a drive today when suddenly it lost power and I had to limp home a few miles playing with the timing advance the whole way.

After some inspection I discoved the timing was way off. I removed the distributor as it seemed to have skipped a tooth and found both gears a warn very badly. It amazes me it continued to run at all.

Is anyone out there able to help me with replacing these gears? Please, with sugar on top.

Also, how do I go about removing these gears from their repective shafts? I am afraind I will damage the shafts if I try to remove them incorrectly.

Also need the distributor housing and clamp as I am sure the jury-rigged way I had this set up led to the demise of the gears. Any body able to help me replace the housing and clamp? Please again.

I have attached photos.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.









Thanks again.

Tony

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Star C Touring

Hello Tony,
this is exactly what I am working on. I should be able to ship the first bunch next week. I will post pictures asap.
Franz

To remove the drive gears just take a small drift and tap the pin out.
The gear should just slide of the shafts.
Franz

Thanks Franz, I had seen your post. I appreciate your efforts keeping these old cars running.

I assume you are talking about the housing and clamp, that's great news. I would still need help locating the gears though. Anybody know whom I can talk to about that?

Thanks again, I love having this group to count on for advice.

Tony

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Star C Touring

Don't suppose this is any good on ebay has 3 of them

1922-1925 DURANT DISTRIBUTOR DRIVE GEAR-1035F Item number: 120329390442

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1932 614 Sedan

The gears that Norm eluded to on ebay where not correct for my distributor, however item number 120329374554 from the same seller look to be the correct gears. The distributor on my car is a Remy model 366-P.

Is this the original distributor?

The manual simply says Autolite products used for the electrical system.

Any knowledge appreciated.

Tony

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Star C Touring

Hi Tony,

I also have a # 366(G) Remy Distributor in my '23 A-22 Durant, I am sure that the Autolite distributor would be correct for both Star and Durant, however several of our members have the Remy dist in their cars as they have a steel housing rather than the original potmetal housings that was unique to the Auolite...You might go to our links page then Larry's Durant parts than A-22. Larry has some gears and Remy dists featured, also try "Remy" in our search forum at the top.
Bill

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Durant Touring

Tony,

I also see a Remy Dist #366-P on ebay, Item 270315660165, starting at a whoppin 5 bucks. It doesn't appear that your Remy has the manual or lever advance like the 366-G

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Durant Touring

As I look closer at this distributor and the one that Bill mentions on ebay, the manual or lever advance has been added by screwing it into the bottom of the upper body. Also, by looking close at the wear on the distributor gear and at the gear's location inside the housing it is obvious that the shaft is not long enough and the teeth are only making contact on the lower 1/2 of the gear teeth. You can see this if you look closely to the wear in my photo. This would also explain the wear on the gear teeth on the generator shaft. If you look close you can tell they have been more "mashed down" than actually just worn out.

Replacing the gears on the 366-P distributor would only last a short amount of time and I would end up with the same problem.

I will look at the 366-G as Bill suggests.

Any other ideas on a distributor or experiance with the 366-G is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Tony

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Star C Touring

Hello Tony,

After looking at your photos, I do have the parts you need, including the gears and housing.

Can ship right away. E-mail or phone if you are interested.

Phone 804 462 5800 (days)

Arthur

The Remy 366-p is from a -27 ish Chevy. From what I have seen it is somewhat valuable. The stock shaft on it is long but it can be cut down to use on a Star. It is a cast iron unit. The advance is done with a lever to rotate the entire housing, rather than just the plate inside, so one would have to mount it so that it could rotate cw and ccw but not move up and down. The gear that comes with it will not work on a Star, but the Autolite Star gear GJ-168 will fit the Remy shaft, and then it will drop right in. I used a VW distributor on mine, shortened the stem (not the shaft) a little, put the GJ-168 gear on, removed the mechanical and vacuum advance and extended an arm out the slot in the side of the housing where the vacuum advance housing was mounted, in order to advance or retard the spark by rotating the upper plate. The distributor housing is solidly mounted with a set screw, so it works much like a model A distributor in this case. It may have been easier to use the Remy, but I was more in favor of butchering a dime-a-dozen VW distributor (mine is a '71) than a old Remy, especially where I was kind of doing cut-and-try engineering. Another distributor that looks like a possibility is the Lucas 25D. Mine came out of Land Rovers, of all things, but I suspect that dimensionally identical ones were used in all of the MG's, and Triumphs of the 60-70's. Tney are a rather cool-looking unit compared to the VW. -Hal

Where Are You From? Pullman, WA

Do You own a car built by Durant? Pile of Star parts

Hal,

I am running a Remy 366-O or G (can't read the last letter) on my A-22 which does have the manual advance lever connected to or is part of the breaker plate....Rather than installing a leaver to the housing to advance the whole distributor could you cut/die grind a slot through the housing for an advance lever to connect to the breaker plate?....I once did something similar to and old brush type electric motor on a lathe I once had...In that case I cut a slot in the motor housing and loosend the screw on the brush ring, installed a lever through the slot which connected to the brush ring, this would allow me to reverse the motor and the lathe by sliding the lever one direction then forward in the other direction, the slot needed to be the correct length so as to form a stop for the leaver....Hey, it worked great.

Where Are You From? Yuma, AZ / Leavenworth, WA

Do You own a car built by Durant? Yes three

Hi, Bill. I didn't see your post until just now. It is probably too late to answer your question, but I hope that you don't think that I was ignoring you on purpose. I took a look at my 366-P. There is no way to rig it up like you described. I don't know if that would apply to your O or G.
I have seen three-brush generators set up with a choke cable like you did with the electric motor. By pulling or pushing the knob you can adjust the output. I put a switch on mine to turn it on and off by grounding it. I suppose that you can throttle the motor that you put the lever on. -Hal

Where Are You From? Pullman, WA

Do You own a car built by Durant? pileof Star parts