A few years ago, this customer comes in with his 1972 Camaro. He said he got it out of the body shop two months earlier after rear ending a truck and his only problem was that it occasionally misfired but only uphill and on damp days.
I took it out for a road test and everything performed fine. But, then again, it was a dry day and I didn't have any hills around.
My next step was to put it on the scope to see if there was anything obvious.
Well, I didn't have to look too far.
I had left the engine running and opened the hood and was surprised by a light show coming from the back of the engine.
Taking a closer look, I started to laugh in amazement.
There was absolutely no body to the distributor cap.
No, Really!!!
All there was left of the cap was the top with the terminals and all the wires attached.
I was sitting there watching the rotor go round and round and sparks jumping the terminals in rythm when I got the idea that I just had to check the timing.
Guess what? It was out, but by only 2 degrees.
Apparently the engine had been shoved back in the accident and the cap hit the firewall, breaking it up.
It's amazing that the number of times this vehicle was moved from body, frame and paint shops that nobody had picked up on this, not even the owner.
That's just WOW!
