Mk3 Spitfire Distributor Fault

[J J]

I have a Mk3 Spitfire and am having ignition problems after the car was running well, although on the last run it was running roughly

ive checked the static timing and can get the car running but it struggles to maintain an idle, it coughs, pinks and then dies. There’s fuel and a spark.

When I used a 12v lamp to set the timing it was difficult establishing the switch point and I’ve noticed that when clamped the dizzy body wobbles when I push it

the dizzy is a Delco Remy, not sure if I could rebuild it.

hope this makes sense, any thoughts would be useful

julian 

[yorkshire_spam]

Hi Julian, dizzy body shouldn't wobble when clamped - I think 1 step at a time and try and sort that out before chasing electrical gremlins. 

Has anything changed since the car was running well? I assume you are on points+condensor not an electronic replacement?

 

[J J]

Hi nothing has changed except for me checking the static timing as a first step and yes I’m running on points

Julian 

[Wendy Dawes]

Hi Julian, my herald dizzy was wobbly, the shaft was badly worn so I just opted for electronic ignition 

best thing I ever did, better starting, smoother idling and better fuel economy,  Accuspark do a complete upgrade of coil, HT Leads, plugs and distributor for just over £110 

well worth the upgrade 

I believe Delco Remy are not the most reliable but don’t quite me on that claim, - never had one 

[J J]

Hi Wendy

thank you, upgrading to electronic ignition sounds like the best option

ive spent ages trying to get this Delco to run reliably, I was trying to keep as much originality in the car as possible but I’m giving up the will to live on this problem!

julian 

[65redspit]

1 hour ago, Wendy Dawes said:

Hi Julian, my herald dizzy was wobbly, the shaft was badly worn so I just opted for electronic ignition 

best thing I ever did, better starting, smoother idling and better fuel economy,  Accuspark do a complete upgrade of coil, HT Leads, plugs and distributor for just over £110 

well worth the upgrade 

I believe Delco Remy are not the most reliable but don’t quite me on that claim, - never had one 

I fitted just such a kit to my friends car in Finland a few weeks ago - works a treat 👍🏻

[65redspit]

The Accuspark option is a fit and forget solution - do get the whole kit as you will need the (different) electronic coil and different plugs that come with it…

[J J]

Thank you everyone

accuspark sell an electronic conversion kit that fits into the existing Delco dizzy body for about £60

do you know if the existing dizzy needs to be in good working order (and not wobble) to fit this or should I go for the kit that includes the new dizzy body?

thanks Julian 

[J J]

Unfortunately Accuspark don’t have any electronic Delco replacements in stock and won’t have any for about six months. All they can offer now is the kit to fit into the existing body 

[yorkshire_spam]

Might be worth having a chat with https://www.facebook.com/HHignitionsolutions H & H ignition solutions? They rebuilt my Lucas dizzy to a high standard. 
If they also do Delco - that should eliminate any dizzy faults. 

[J J]

Thank you I’ll call them, was it cost effective?

[yorkshire_spam]

1 hour ago, J J said:

Thank you I’ll call them, was it cost effective?

Not cheap, but I sent them an old Lucas dizzy and what I got back was a good as new Lucas dizzy with the curve adjusted to my engine - quality was top notch. I hear mixed reviews of the quality of the new replacements, which is why I went for a refurb on an original.

[thescrapman]

On 07/06/2023 at 10:41, J J said:

Unfortunately Accuspark don’t have any electronic Delco replacements in stock and won’t have any for about six months. All they can offer now is the kit to fit into the existing body 

I can’t see a problem with fitting one of their modules in your distributor.

 

[Clive]

On 06/06/2023 at 15:57, J J said:

I have a Mk3 Spitfire and am having ignition problems after the car was running well, although on the last run it was running roughly

ive checked the static timing and can get the car running but it struggles to maintain an idle, it coughs, pinks and then dies. There’s fuel and a spark.

When I used a 12v lamp to set the timing it was difficult establishing the switch point and I’ve noticed that when clamped the dizzy body wobbles when I push it

the dizzy is a Delco Remy, not sure if I could rebuild it.

hope this makes sense, any thoughts would be useful

julian 

I would look for a good used one. I recently fitted one to an engine, been sat in my garage for possibly 20 years. A quick clean up checked weights/vac module and popped it in teh car. The car ran OK ish with the points (not replaced, but faces filed, reset etc) but was perfect when I fitted an electronic module. You may even be able to use a 6 cylinder dizzy to rebuild yours (I know you can with Lucas stuff)

Plan b is to temorarily fit a lucas, but you need the dizzy pedestal too. You will lose the rev counter drive, but that is a sacrifice worth making to be able to use the car.

[drofgum]

1 hour ago, Clive said:

 

Plan b is to temorarily fit a lucas, but you need the dizzy pedestal too. You will lose the rev counter drive, but that is a sacrifice worth making to be able to use the car.

Clive,

No need to change the whole pedestal. The clamp plate is the part that was changed when the Delco was dropped for the Lucas.

Cheers,

Paul

[J J]

I’ve pulled the distributor and noticed that the O ring at the bottom of the pedestal is very sloppy

do you know if this could be contributing to the pedestal wobbling when clamped up, I’m working on the assumption that the wobble isn’t helping here?

spoke to Accuspark who weren’t really sure whether the wobble or worn shaft would affect an  electronic conversion, also spoke to H & H who will refurbish my distributor on points

for circa £175

thanks  everyone for your help here 

[glang]

No the o ring is just for sealing and the dizzy stem should be quite a good fit in the hole in the engine then the clamp plate when tightened around it and to the block should hold the whole lot rigid. However when you said wobble I thought you were talking about the dizzy rotor in the centre which spins and quite often wears which then affects the operation of the points. Very difficult to see why the body is loose if youve got everything in place as it has nothing to wear! Have you got a workshop manual?

Edited June 10, 2023 by glang

[J J]

Yes I’ve got the Triumph green workshop manual. Sorry for being unclear, the distributor body itself has a distinct movement if I pull and push against it when it’s clamped up

the clamp itself is tight and seems to be in good order

[glang]

And is the clamp solidly screwed down to the base? As you can see from the manual the outer case of the dizzy should be solidly fixed so try to work out if you have all the components, theyre in good order and where the play is coming from...

[Dannyb]

I can't see how the body can move if the clamp is gripping the dizzy body properly and is also bolted to the pedistal.

If you take the dizzy out and also the clamp you can then try clamping it off the car. It maybe somethings wrong with the clamp.

I brought a Lucas dizzy from a well known supplier which needed the clamp bending slightly but i could only do it with the dizzy out so I could see what was needed.

Danny

[J J]

thank you both, your comments make perfect sense, perhaps there is a problem with the clamp. I first noticed the problem when I was setting the static timing with a 12v lamp, the movement in the distributor body made setting the on and off point tricky, even when it was clamped 

im in Spain but am itching to get back to fix this and get back on the road

Saw a TR6 here at the beach yesterday, who’d have thought!

julian 

[standardthread]

11 hours ago, Dannyb said:

I brought a Lucas dizzy from a well known supplier which needed the clamp bending slightly but i could only do it with the dizzy out so I could see what was needed.

 

I've had this before with an old clamp that had distorted over time. I found that with the clap screw tightened fully (both sides of the slit were touching) there was still slight movement with the distributor. I filed a sliver off each side of the slit so that when the clamp was tight there was then a slight gap at the end of the slit above the tightening screw.

[Guppy916]

I also used https://www.facebook.com/HHignitionsolutions

for my Mk3 GT6 they rebuilt my Delco unit and convetted it to electronic at a very sensible cost

[J J]

I bought a new distributor from powerspark with electronic ingition. I’ve fitted it without changing any other components. The engine starts but eventually coughs, splitters, backfires a bit then blows off the crankcase breather valve 

i was able to set the timing with a strobe so that seems ok unless it’s 180deg out

any thoughts anyone?

best Julian 

[yorkshire_spam]

9 minutes ago, J J said:

any thoughts anyone?

Just the usual stuff:

1. Check firing order vs dizzy direction of rotation
2. Something down the bore in #1 to check the TDC marker on the pulley
3. Rocker cover off and check that #1 is firing on the correct stroke (check it's not 180 out)