First time (I think) poster here.

I have a 720 with a unique style van body on it. I've had it for about 20 years and it has less than 70,000 original miles. It's a walk through, if you were small enough!! My dog does it all the time. I use it to haul parts to collector car swap meets, etc.

Problem: It has an intermittent skip. I replaced the plugs(NGK), wires(good ones), cap & rotor yesterday. It's better, but still not skip free.

Replacing the rotor I noticed a significant amount of side to side play in the distributor shaft. I assume it needs new bushings. What's acceptable play in shaft?

Is it worth the effort to replace the bushings for $20 or should I cut loose with $150 for a remanufactured distributor? I have a complete set of bushing drivers.

I'm surprised that with this low mileage, the bushings are worn out. Without taking it apart, can I expect the distributor shaft will be toast (worn out)? If so, where can I get one?

I can get the bushings at Advanced auto parts, but they list two different size shaft diameters. Nothing's ever EZ.

modifieddriver wrote: Nothing's ever EZ.

very true

well i'd say no play at all is ideal

but welcome and post up some pics i'm interested

I have gone through all this too, i even replaced the whole distributor and i still have the stupid skip.

sigh, let me know if you figure it out. just an FYI, autozone has rebuilt distributors for $190 + core. it comes with a new control module which is $100 by its self.