electronic distributors - any further feedback?

[Ken Morton]

Due to the good reviews for this unit I obtained one from Accuspark. I have not fitted it to my Ulster replica yet , but have done the following modifications to it. Replaced the bent oiler by taping the hole 1/4 BSW and fitting a bent one from a Ruby. I also machined a groove in the bottom of the drive shaft to drive the REV counter. This turned out to be easy as the shaft appeared to be regular mild steel and not case hardened like the shaft on the DJ4 I was using on the Ulster. This suggests that lubrication should be watched carefully ( wear my not be as important on electronic units as on points units).

[Ruairidh Dunford]

This is my first attempt at faking up the new distributor to look like an original one, jobs done:

I stripped the body of everything and painted it black and ran an oily cloth over it whilst tacky.

I tapped the oiler hole to 1/4 bsw and screwed in a bent tube type oiler - with a tiny bit of loctite.

I drilled and tapped two holes to BA5 and attached the timing plate (it's a little high in this first one).

I removed the pins and cap clips, opened out the hole very lightly and refitted some of the original type split pins and clips.

I used heat shrink on the wires to hold them together.

From this:

   

To this:

   

   

If anyone has any clever ideas about the wire connections and how to make them more period at the cap end I would be very interested to read your thoughts.

[Derek Sheldon]

This is my first attempt at faking up the new distributor to look like an original one, jobs done:

I stripped the body of everything and painted it black and ran an oily cloth over it whilst tacky.

I tapped the oiler hole to 1/4 bsw and screwed in a bent tube type oiler - with a tiny bit of loctite.

I drilled and tapped two holes to BA5 and attached the timing plate (it's a little high in this first one).

I removed the pins and cap clips, opened out the hole very lightly and refitted some of the original type split pins and clips.

I used heat shrink on the wires to hold them together.

From this:



To this:





If anyone has any clever ideas about the wire connections and how to make them more period at the cap end I would be very interested to read your thoughts.

I think what you have achieved would fool a less picky inspection, good job. The shrink wrap is either not shrunk enough or needs to be a smaller size which would require taking the connections off first. I would use just a small piece of the larger near the dizzy.great something to emulate.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

"The shrink wrap is either not shrunk enough or needs to be a smaller size which would require taking the connections off first."

I agree - work in progress, that part!

[Bryan]

"The shrink wrap is either not shrunk enough or needs to be a smaller size which would require taking the connections off first."

I agree - work in progress, that part!

What about trying cold shrink (the sleeve is expanded by a plastic spiral that you pull out), if you could find one that comes down enough. The other  option is shrink tape,  although I haven't seen it in a few years.

Bryan

[Michael]

Did you reuse the original distributor cap or is that the replacement?

[Andy Bennett]

Looking at the Accuspark site to purchase a distributor and I can't see the upgraded rotor arm, but in looking for it I wandered around the site a little. I was surprised to see the relative difference in price for the A7 distributor.
Most of the other distributors appear to be around half the regular A7 price,, with £100 for a full kit of distributor, leads, coil and plug, .or am I misreading the site?

It does make the regular price of £140 for the A7 distributor pretty much the most expensive they offer. It of course becomes more attractive with the discount but even the Bosch 09 equivalent is £65.

Appreciating that alternatives are limited to second hand or a bosch 009, and I risk a 'well don't buy it then' reply.

There may well be a straight reason for this high price, perhaps it has many non standard parts which have brought in high jig costs and perhaps I should just be grateful that they have made them, but it has made me hesitate.
Andy B

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Did you reuse the original distributor cap or is that the replacement?

The one shown above is the new one supplied Michael.

[Austin Carr]

This is my first attempt at faking up the new distributor to look like an original one, jobs done:

I stripped the body of everything and painted it black and ran an oily cloth over it whilst tacky.

I tapped the oiler hole to 1/4 bsw and screwed in a bent tube type oiler - with a tiny bit of loctite.

I drilled and tapped two holes to BA5 and attached the timing plate (it's a little high in this first one).

I removed the pins and cap clips, opened out the hole very lightly and refitted some of the original type split pins and clips.

I used heat shrink on the wires to hold them together.

From this:



To this:





If anyone has any clever ideas about the wire connections and how to make them more period at the cap end I would be very interested to read your thoughts.

The faking looks very good but haven't you invalidated the warranty?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Why would you think that Austin?