Distributor access

[Simon5350]

Apologies for what must be obvious to most of you:

Elan S3 coupe

How do I change the distibutor cap? And work on the dizzy, generally?

The manual just tell me to work on the dizzy, without telling me how, Brian Buckland's "Addendum" says I have to remove the dizzy to work on it.

Does it come out with the carbs in place?

Is it easy-ish to get the timing back?

And, while I'm on - do Elans eat coils? This one appears to have had a couple of coils in the last 1000 miles or so. Spread over 5 years, though.

Cheers

Simon

[TBG]

Simon - yes Elans do tend to eat coils as they get very hot in the correct place under the bonnet. I saw a racing Elan at the Le Mans Classic and asked him if he had had the coil eating problem and he said no as most racers reposition the coil in the cockpit to keep it cool. (they take the heater out to save weight). I moved mine to over my feet on the right and have not eaten a coil for ten or so years and many many thousand of long hot miles. D

[steve lyle]

i would pull the distributor whenever I needed to service the points. Which contributed, no doubt, to postponing point maintenance. So I broke down and put a Pettronix unit in.

Replacing the cap or rotor or dealing with wires hasn’t been a big issue. I have Strombergs, which gives a bit of visibility to the dizzy. But I mostly go by feel. I’m guessing it’s even harder with Webers.

Set the timing statically at 10 dbtdc. Then max advance at 32 or so at 3500 rpm. Not a big problem, just a bit irritating.

The big issue with timing for me was getting a wrench on the clamp nut. There’s probably a trick or hack to that, but I haven’t figured it out. Hence the Pertronix.

[john.p.clegg]

Steve

Why not try this...fingertight.

John

[steve lyle]

Steve

Why not try this...fingertight.

dissy clamp nut.JPG

John

Clever! Actually, on my last attempt I got partway there. I replaced the hex head bolt with an Alllen head. Then my problem was getting a key onto it. But I could slice off a bit of key, then weld on a cross-piece on the end, and voila!

If I ever need to set the timing again, that is.

[SENC]

Steve

Why not try this...fingertight.

dissy clamp nut.JPG

John

Brilliant, John! My next little project!

Simon - the cap should come off by popping the metal clips (assuming you have the original lucas). After loosening the distributor clamp (see John's picture, but yours likely needs a spanner), the distributor should lift out. From a timing perspective, the key is to note the position of the rotor before pulling the distributor out, then as you pull it out note that it will turn counter clockwise a small bit. When you replace it, you'll need to reposition the rotor to the same spot and then check after it is seated that it is back at the starting point. All this assumes the crankshaft isn't turned while the dizzy is out. Oh, and be sure to mark the plug wires so you get the orientation right when you reinstall the cap.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=17372&start=

[billwill]

Make sure you have a distributor cap that has SIDE-ENTRY cables. If you have the other type where the cables go straight up, I don't think you will be able to get the cap off with the carbs in place.

Probably you have already realised that you need to take the cap off to get enough clearance to lift the distributor stem out of the block.

[sprintsoft]

Hi Simon,

I’ve seen coils damaged by leaving the ignition on too long after engine stopped…also misunderstanding the ballast resistance, and if it is fitted. Other than that I don’t think Elans have any generic problem with coils.

Regards
Iain

[Simon5350]

Thank you, all, for that.

I didn't twig about removing the cap first - I haven't yet managed to reach the second clip, I will try a bit harder, thanks to your comments.

Side entry cap, under Webers.

I'm usually quite good at manipulation in impossible spaces, but I know nothing about Elans, prefer to check with the wisdom of the forum first.

Cheers.

[john.p.clegg]

Just to clarify, the bar in the " capstan " is a sliding fit with a " blob " on each end ,making it captive , this allows better leverage and clearance at the same time.

John

[billwill]

I generally use a flat screwdriver to undo the cap clips.

Get it in between the cap and clip and then twist the screwdriver.

[HCA]

Elan S3 coupe

How do I change the distibutor cap? And work on the dizzy, generally?

The manual just tell me to work on the dizzy, without telling me how, Brian Buckland's "Addendum" says I have to remove the dizzy to work on it.

And, while I'm on - do Elans eat coils?
Simon

Sounds to me that you are an ideal candidate for an electronic distributorless system... Fit it, leave it, forget it

[Simon5350]

Just to finish this one off:

It is much easier than I thought it might be, changing the distributor cap.

Thanks, everyone.

A couple of points that may help another newbie:

Take care to get a screwdriver that fits the particular lead retention screws, the old and new caps had different screws and well fitting screwdrivers were needed for both.

Thread a wire or string through the gap in the inlet manifolds and tie one end round the spark plug caps so you can pull them through as a bunch - with a bit of jiggling.

Cheers

Simon