Attaching the Distributor Cap

Is there some secret way to gently attach the cap to the distributor body? I've snapped those little clips on and off maybe three times since Jeff sent me my fabulous recurved unit and ran the car for only about 20 minutes. When I did it this weekend I could swear I heard something bounce off the starter and fall to the garage floor.
Lo and behold, the clip had knocked out the inner section of the cap where it snaps.
I've just been pressing on the fat part of the arched steel and snapping it on. Am I supposed to be gentler with the clip?
Greg

replace the cap and do it again....that fat place is the pressure point to snap it in place. It was just a bad cap....lucky it did not go bad on the road.

I've always popped the clips on just like you did (on lots of different distributors, not just MGBs), and have never had that happen. It looks like you got a poorly made cap there.

You can install the clips with a pair of "duck billed" type pliers with a long nose, assuming there's clearance. You accomplish this by grabbing the tang at the top and angling it back while lifting it over into place on the cap. I've done this on a few cars when the engine was hot, the clips were unusually stiff, or I didn't want to get my hands dirty.

After having this happen, I can see how you might want to be more gentle! Maybe caps just aren't made like they used to be....?

That definitely should NOT have happened! Did I supply you that cap? If so, let me know and I'll send you a replacement, but you may wish to get another in the mean time!

That's not the cap I normally have on hand, rather another brand that I use occasionally while while the best ones available are on backorder. This type of cap is more brittle than the ones I prefer, and I believe is the same brand labeled as Lucas.

Yes, that's the one that arrived on the distributor you did back in April (then sadly it sat in a box until I finished getting the engine ready this month.) I went and picked up one at the Napa at lunch time. The guy at the counter says he's been seeing that a lot lately... He said the same thing, that it's no thinner, but that the plastic is much more brittle than it used to be.
Greg

I'll get a nice pliable one in the mail to you - but with customs you won't see it for a couple weeks probably!

Now THAT's customer service.
Kudos Jeff.

B-racer Wrote:

It shipped today via Priority mail, so who knows when it will arrive! :-)
Now stop embarrasing me! I'm only doing what's right!

Bad luck that it happened good luck you weren't out and about when the cap let go.

If you press on the fat curved part with your thumb and with a convenient finger pull back on the tip of the spring then that should take some tension off when refitting the clip. More piece of mind really but everylittle bit helps

Russ

In my opinion, you should be able to slap the clips on in any fashion with no worries. In fact, you should be able to drop the cap on the floor from bench height and not have to worry about it shattering either. Maybe I ask for too much? :-)