Page 1 of 1

Ignition/distributor problems

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:39 am
by Chris_G
Hi guys,

It's been a long time since I posted some updates about my restauration on this forum (will post some next week)!
It's almost finished but now I'm having problems with the ignition setup. My old distributor is worn and because of this I can't
setup it properly. Some people advised me to take an electronic version which will be better because there will be no more points inside?
I was looking on the internet and found some solutions i.e. Mallory and a lucas 35dlm8 electronic distributor. Mallory seems to be quite expensive
for my car because I will not be driving this every day.

Anyone here who has some advice on a good price/quality system. My engine is completely rebuilt and I changed the camshaft to a Crower 50229!

Thanks in advance

Christophe

Re: Ignition/distributor problems

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:25 pm
by Alicerover
All depends on the budget realy. I have a series 3 lightweight with a 3.9 and I fitted it with an Aldon Ignitor Electronic system. Set the timming 20 years ago. Never missed a beat since!!! The nice thing about it is that it's all hidden under the dizzy cap, so it all looks unmodified. Produces a very powerful spark, but it's not cheap.
I have a luminition system, with dizzy that was fitted to Alice. If your interested send me a pm.
Spen

Re: Ignition/distributor problems

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:43 pm
by 5988
If your distributor is worn out then there is no point in fitting luminition or something without changing the distributor,

Personaly I would replace it with the same thing you have - there is nothing wrong with the standard set up other than needing to set points gaps every so often (i find between 10-15k miles)

Re: Ignition/distributor problems

Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 2:23 am
by disco2hse
As a third point of view. Yes, you will need to replace the distributor if it is so worn that you cannot set the timing correctly. But I have tried Mallory and found it to be too sensitive to spike and power fluctuations. They fail as a result. Now I am using Pertronix and have had very little issue with them. Having said that, yes points are reliable and offer adjustability.

Alternatively, if you don't want a distributor anymore, look at EFI and something like Megasquirt. You will still need to be able to move oil though.