Right after I got my '81 BRAT I went and did a tune up new plugs, good wires, new coil, and I got that ea81 runnin like a beast (despite the oil leak on the oil pump, and the one on the pan gasket, I think). I stopped by a buddies house later that day and when it was time to go, No start.....hmmm. After checking the carb for fuel I checked the spark....It was DEAD No voltage to the coil was the problem, so I hot-wired the car and made my way home. 4 months later, its still hotwired (with a relay and switch at least!). Everything in the dash works fine except the tach, its all jumpy and sometimes reads next to nothing, and it bounces when I use my blinker. I read somwhere in the USRM that a bouncy tach can be a sign of distributor failure. Was wondering about what my problem could be?

 

thanks, Kurt

To check for that take the distributor cap off and grab the rotor.Give it a little tug side to side,and if you can pull it up off the shaft you need to find the set screw to hold the rotor down.If still it has side to side play then you've probably got a wobbly shaft due to the lower bearing.