Mexican Hat Oil Thrower
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 6:18 pm
I have spent a few days this winter cleaning up a few oil leaks on my '34 Nine Sports.
One of them, I discovered was being caused by a missing Mexican Hat Oil Thrower. It seems the last guy to work on the engine forgot to put it in. For those unfamiliar with the item, it is a machined shield shaped like a Mexican Sombrero that sits on the distributor driveshaft and which throws oil back wards into the engine rather than out the front towards the fan pulley and down the timing chain cover.
There are two ways to replace this item. Neither of them is simply to remove the front oil seal cover. One is to remove the generator, distributor, chain sprocket and fan pulley while carefully supporting the front timing chain. The other is to remove the timing chain cover and simply place it over the exposed distributor drive shaft. The oil thrower is held in place by the fan pulley, The latter is by far the simplest method provided that you have already removed the radiator. Since I was fixing leaks anyway, this seemed the best option.
One of them, I discovered was being caused by a missing Mexican Hat Oil Thrower. It seems the last guy to work on the engine forgot to put it in. For those unfamiliar with the item, it is a machined shield shaped like a Mexican Sombrero that sits on the distributor driveshaft and which throws oil back wards into the engine rather than out the front towards the fan pulley and down the timing chain cover.
There are two ways to replace this item. Neither of them is simply to remove the front oil seal cover. One is to remove the generator, distributor, chain sprocket and fan pulley while carefully supporting the front timing chain. The other is to remove the timing chain cover and simply place it over the exposed distributor drive shaft. The oil thrower is held in place by the fan pulley, The latter is by far the simplest method provided that you have already removed the radiator. Since I was fixing leaks anyway, this seemed the best option.