Did you know that the condenser screw on the side of the distributor, if it is too long or you put it in w/o the condenser bracket, it will lock the advance assy. when you rev the engine then it will turn the dist. so far out of ign. timing your Crosley will quit like a bomb hit it. usually right when you really need the RPM.

Learned about the cond. screw the hard way--It can also BEND the shaft.

Modern replacement condensers have a thinner mounting tab, if you use the original screw it will hit the adbvance weights and cause probelms, use a shorter screw or add a washer.

I had a 10 minute job to do on the Crosley. I suspected a bad condenser was causing my engine to have an intermittent miss and picked up a fresh one at the auto supply to install. Quick fix right? just loosen the nut on the side of the distributor for the connection and unscrew the old one and then reverse, 10 minutes tops. Less than 10 minutes later I'm siting in the FOR ready to start it up and take it for a ride to see if it runs better. One back fire and nothing but cranking sounds.

Off with the hood again and the distributor was twisted 180 degrees around and the condenser is jammed against the block. I think, it must have been loose, no it wasn't and still wasn't. I loosen the distributor and rotate it back and notice the resistance to turning. I knew and you should all know that if you use to long a screw to mount the condenser, it will hit internal rotating parts with possible catastrophic damage to the distributor, gear or crank. But I used the same screw that had been in the distributor for years. I was hoping for the best but expecting the worse. I removed the new condenser and compared it to the old one. The mounting tab on the new one is at most .010 thinner. Luckily it was close enough to missing it smashed on by and does not appear to have caused any damage. I got an even shorter screw and reattached the condenser and timed the engine. But it wasn't over.

As I was about to put the hood back on, I smelt gas, the fuel pump was leaking down on the heat shield and running over onto the exhaust manifold. Off to the spares shelf, I knew I had a rebuilding kit and figured that would be the only way to get it back on the road that day. When I started looking, I found a new pump that I didn't remember having (CRS). I found a new gasket and shortly after had the FOR back on the road. So now almost 2 hours later instead of my initial 10 minutes and I was out for a test drive. I think it is fixed.

So beware of quick fixes and be very careful with how long your condenser screw is, even if you just took it off a running engine.

Been there-Done it. Check to make sure the dist. shaft isn't bent-the dist will wobble if it is.

I did the same thing on two engines before I found out what was I was doing wrong. On one, I just left off the lock washer. In both cases I had to take off the oil pan and retime the distributor.

All you had to do was find top dead center on #1 cylinder, and move the plug wires on your cap to coincide with the rotor. There is no need to remove the pan for a distributor that jumped time.