Lotus Elan

Rotor arm

PostPost by: Terry Posma » Wed Mar 06, 2024 2:15 am

Recently I have had a problem with the little car not wanting to start and being just plain obstinant.

Turned out it was either the rotor arm or cap. Replaced both and all good again.

The new cap appears better quality than the previous and is a nice tight fit but the rotor arm is a bit of a dodgy fit. The distributor is a Lucas D43.The guy who rebuilt the engine explained that they are mainly made in China and the fit is hit or miss.

I have changed the metal clip inside the arm to one that makes a tighter fit and then applied some loctitie on advice from the same.

I am still not sure I trust the thing and want to buy another rotor or two as a spare for the glove box. Can anyone point me in the direction of who sells good quality rotors for one of these distributors.

Cheers.
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PostPost by: Andy8421 » Wed Mar 06, 2024 5:34 am

68 Elan S3 HSCC Roadsports spec
71 Elan Sprint (still being restored)
32 Standard 12
Various modern stuff
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PostPost by: 111Robin » Wed Mar 06, 2024 9:19 am

Don't buy the new "Lucas" green box parts as the quality is very poor. It's quite easy to find nos Lucas caps and rotor arms and well worth the extra outlay. Distributor Doctor is also a good alternative.
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PostPost by: Terry Posma » Thu Mar 07, 2024 11:55 am

Thanks for thwe replies.

Ordered a couple of rotors from Distributor Doctor. Hopefully I will never have to lift the distributor cap again.
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PostPost by: IainP » Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:08 pm

Just had my 23D4 rebuilt by the Dist Dr. Excellent service and first class result at a very reasonable price

Iain

(Martin is less than complimentary about the Chinese dizzys.)
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PostPost by: RAJ2628 » Thu Mar 07, 2024 4:01 pm

Martin refurbished my distributer too.
Top job and a very helpful guy.
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PostPost by: billwill » Thu Mar 07, 2024 4:02 pm

NOS versions of the original rev-limiting Rotor Arm come up on eBay occasionally, I've had one of those in my S3 for ages now.

Note that the RPM marked on them is the distributor RPM i.e half of the actual engine RPM.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=REv+limi ... arm&ia=web

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=REv+limi ... &ia=images
Bill Williams

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PostPost by: Andy8421 » Fri Mar 08, 2024 10:09 am

Terry Posma wrote:
Ordered a couple of rotors from Distributor Doctor. Hopefully I will never have to lift the distributor cap again.


Terry, even if you have done away with the points, I am afraid you will need to lift the cap every year to put a couple of drips of oil down the centre of the rotor shaft under the rotor arm.

If you don't, the centrifugal advance/retard will eventually seize up.
68 Elan S3 HSCC Roadsports spec
71 Elan Sprint (still being restored)
32 Standard 12
Various modern stuff
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PostPost by: Terry Posma » Fri Mar 08, 2024 1:29 pm

Thanks for the tip.......party pooper. :lol:
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