MSD distributor, can this be cleaned up

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AZ-Nick

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In the Swinger 340 I purchased a while back I noticed the condition of the MSD distributor was looking pretty bad but it was working good as is so I decided to wait a while before I get to decide what I need to do.
Can this be cleaned or do I need to replace the whole unit?
If it can be cleaned, how should I go about it?
If it’s going to be time consuming I may be better off buying a replacement.

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uhh... what happened there? it looks like it was underwater.

more pics would help ascertain the damage and give a better idea of the situation.
 
junkyardhero said:
uhh... what happened there? it looks like it was underwater.

more pics would help ascertain the damage and give a better idea of the situation.
Click to expand...
Yes it looks like it got wet but not underwater. The car came from the coastal area of California. I had the distributor out and the rest of it looked like it was fairly new except for the area that you see in the picture. I am clueless what happened.
 
I have used those distributors for many years. At some point I had two in a row do that so I contacted MSD and they explained that this was the result of a design error regarding the plating of internal parts and that the new ones didn't do that any more. I told them that this explanation did not help me with the products that I already bought from them. They offered if I would send the distributors back to them, they would completely test and rebuild the distributors with the new plated parts. I think it cost about $130 for both distributors including my shipping costs. They found issues with both the distributors that they also fixed with new parts and that was part of the cost. This was all maybe 6 or 7 years ago.

By the way, you can clean them up, but they will just rust like that again...
 
Take it apart and soak the rusted pieces in either white vinegar or Evaporust.
 
looks like just surface rust. Well it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it was going to look so I am going to remove it and clean it up, if it doesn’t clean up very good I’ll buy a new one.

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Look on the bright side. The rust was included in the excessive price.....
 
I think MSD/Holley still sells rebuild kits for those.
 
I talked with MSD technical support and all they can say is use wd40, steel wool and a brush to clean it up. Talking to them about this they made me feel like it is my fault, useless.
 
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