New Restorer - Advice on DJ4 Dizzy Base

[Eddamoo]

Hello all!  My father and i are excitedly starting our restoration of a 1933 Box Saloon following the Beaulieu rally and after meeting many lovely people.  Apologies for the basic questions, but as a Millennial, im more comfortable soldering ECU's and playing with injection systems as opposed to carb jets and these crazy mechanical fuel pumps!

When bolting the engine together, we noticed a lot of 'slop' in the distributor cap fitment.  Unfortunately, part of the alignment guide on the base had snapped off so the 2 pieces do not mate properly.  We therefore presumably need a new base.  Unfortunately i can only find bases for the DK4 Base and not the DJ4!  We are trying to keep the car as original as possible (until it inevitably lets us down!) so was hoping someone could point me in the right direction for a new one please?

Additionally, the rotor arm has a few thou of play.  Would this be ok 'fixing' by some PTFE tape around the shaft or similar?

Some images of progress so far.  We cannot wait to have a running chassis!

[jansens]

Your pics didn't work unfortunately. When posting pictures off my blog I always right click and get the image address and use that in the link. Just grabbing the URL from the address bar won't always work.

In the past I have built up broken bakelite parts with 2 part epoxy (Araldite, the full strength stuff) , dyed with a little fountain pen ink mixed in. I build temporary walls with thin plastic (yogurt containers work well) and hot glue. When the epoxy is dry a little isopropyl alcohol will release the hot glue then you can file and sand the epoxy to shape.

Simon

[Bob Culver]

I have encountered loose rotors with other makes. The consequences of it catching are grim. I simply press on over a strip of paper.

[Chris KC]

I'm not aware of anyone making DJ bases so your best bet is probably to find a better used one or as Simon says, attempt a repair. It wouldn't be the first I've seen stuck together with Araldite. Just make sure it's a nice clean joint.

DJ rotor arms though are readily available. Mine (a DK) is not exactly a tight fit on the spindle but has run many thousands of miles without serious issues. Depends what you mean by 'a few thou' I guess...

[Eddamoo]

Thank you all for your replies. I have fixed the image links.

I will have a look into making a mating surface with epoxy and shim the rotor arm with paper or similar! I'm not quite used to 'hacks' like this but they certainly appeal to the wallet!

[Chris KC]

Must say I rather like the blue frame!

[Steve Jones]

Whilst my two cars used for competition have Bosch 009 type distributors, my SWB Saloon uses a DJ4 and I have a second one as a spare. I did have a third one but I lent it to someone and if only I could remember who that was I might be able to get it back! Both have damaged base plates repaired with traditional, slow setting, Araldite and work fine. As ever when using Araldite, cleanliness and the tightest joint possible are essential but as long as you can achieve that, it should work. The DJ4 is an excellent distributor as long as there is no play in the bushes, no up and down movement and the rotor arm is a tight fit on the spindle.  I've never found a rotor arm that wasn't a loose fit but a slip of paper between the two solves that problem instantly.

If you do, ever, find a source of replacement base plates, I'd more more than interested.

Steve

[Peter Johnson]

I wonder if they could now be 3d printed in resin?

Peter

["Slack Alice" Simon]

If the pic of the distributor base shows something snapped, I can't see it - apart from the top missing from the right hand cap clip.   New clips are available, but that one wouldn't stop the engine running.

One of the good things about Sevens is that they will work even with a large amount of abuse - so although it is good to know what they should be like, you can usually get away with "oh, it will be ok until I get round to doing it properly".

So keep asking questions, better still, join a club and get a local to drop round and assess what needs to be fixed straight away, and what doesn't.

Simon

[dickie65]

Hi,
If you put a bit more bend in the cap clips that will stop some cap movement.
New caps are available which will fit better than a worn old one.
I have used non setting gasket goo under my rotor arms for years which works really well.
I once broke a rotor arm in half while out on a drive, I just wrapped it in insulating tape to get me home ( just not over the contact surface )