identifying the distributor

[bryn]

hi all, is there a way to tell what distributor i have in my '72 plus 2 s/130? there doesn't appear to be any kind of I.D. numbers. unless i am missing something?

cheers,
bryn

[Dag-Henning]

bryn, there should be a stamp on the body. otherwise, if you have breaker points, you can check if they have red or blue plastic heels......I do believe the old 23/25 distributors have red points, and the later 43/45 type have blue.....Guess your's should have the blue ones..... But of course, you could have anything, if it is not original.....

Dag

[StoatWithToast]

A gent at Paul Matty said that the cap has push-on HT lead connections for the 43 and 23 has pointy grub-screws.

[Jason1]

Hi

Should be Lucas 43D see pic from SJ Sportscars website.

Jason

[bryn]

thanks guys, it would seem that i have a 23d, i have looked at the pic of the distrubutor that jason posted and my dizzy cap looks like a 23d type (looking at other pics on sjsportscars website) as it has grub screw style connections. i can't see any stamps on the body other than a 'lucas' stamp.

the main reason i'm interested is that i want a electronic ignition setup.

there seems to be a number of kits on the internet and ebay for around ?25-30. are these likely to be any good or should i just get a known aldon kit or similar?

thanks again,
bryn

[Old English White]

...If going to compensate old & worn distributor by electronic , you're going to lost time and ?'s .
The Aldon choice is good . They're basically Lucas distributors casting .You ll have two options: first ll be "all electronic" , and second ll be "traditionnal condenser & points" . On the last , you still are able to put the electronic plate on it , and go reverse if necessary...You ll not have such possibilities on the "all electronic".
On "OEW", I have "condenser & points", and was going to put the electronic kit on it , but as I didn't get any trouble so far , and because the spare parts are so small , I hesitate to do it ...
Christian.

[StoatWithToast]

I've just bought an Aldon kit for the 23D, but I've not got round to fitting it yet (stripping down and rebuilding all 4 corners at the mo), but as soon as the car is back on the road this will be the first thing to go in after the suspension is setup; I have used complete 123 before and found them really good, but they don't do one with the right gear for the twincam and when I looked into it everything got more complicated than I wanted to bother with.

The Aldon (and most of the others apart from 123) are just a replacement for the points and condensor, the main shaft and advance weights are all still original. This means you can switch between them if you want, but due to the fiddlyness of the job (carb in the way, little screws, not much light gets down there, etc) it is not a job I'd try to do at the side of the road, esp' in the rain.

The main advantage is the electronic units are contactless so they don't wear down at anything like the speed of the mechanical points, so adjustment is never needed. They should also reduce some of the scatter in spark timing, meaning your timing can be more precise.