Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Distributor replacement done

Last week all the parts for my dizzy arrived so I was able to build up the replacement dizzy.

I fitted the electronic ignition and fitted the dizzy to the car but this proved futile. Working in the rain and darkness (I was doing it last Thursday evening) certainly didn't help so I had to give up. On the Saturday morning I went back to it and got the car running with points and condenser. Once that was done I could then fit the electronic ignition and after ajdusting the timing it was fine. So I was set for the following day which was Drive It Day. To mark this day I tagged along with the West & North Yorkshire TSSC area group run out to the National Coal Mining Musem For England. Brown didn't miss a beat and on the way home I took the scenic route through Huddersfield and stopped at Scammoden Dam for a couple of photos before going home. After 100 miles Brown is still running fine. I've kept the points and condenser in the glovebox just in case. The electronic ignition will be cheap and easy to replace should it ever fail.

Total cost - about £40

Friday, April 13, 2012

Distributor replacement

It has been a while since I last posted so it is time for a small update.

Becky II is still in daily use. Aside from changing an engine torque rod bush I've not had to do any spannering. I've found out that the ones from the Rover 827 are an exact match. Apparently, one of the Range Rover bushes is also an exact match so I'll be doing my own investigations.

To get to the main topic of this post, I'm going to replace the distibutor in Brown. The electronic igniton that I had fitted died on me just before Christmas. The points and condensor were reinstated and Brown has been running fine ever since. I've had to adjust the points gap a couple of times and this is an awkward job due to the design of the distributor. I've been toying with the idea of fitting a brand new electronic ignition unit. Unfortunately, there aren't many options for the 1850's Delco dizzy and they usually involve dismantling the dizzy in order to fit it. An alternative is to fit a dizzy from the Dolomite Sprint which is a Lucas one. This gives more options in terms of electronic ignition kits and if nothing else, the points are easier to adjust in these dizzys. I've managed to source a Sprint dizzy and I've ordered a Britpart electronic ignition kit. Because I'm using a Sprint dizzy I'll need to get a mounting plate, rotor arm and dizzy cap. I've sourced all thes items and once I've got everything I can get it up and running. The beauty of the Britpart kit is that I shouldn't need to change my coil.

In nearly forgot to mention that I've swapped the instruments for the correct early 1850 ones. This was something I've been wanting to do for a long time. It started off with the speedometer not working properly. I bought an early 1850 one for a tenner on eBay. I then got offered a set of early 1850 instruments for free but I had to drive 40-odd miles down to South Yorkshire to pick them up. It was worth the cost of the petrol as they're difficult to come by. They went in without too much trouble. The tachometer is wired slightly differently but with the help of the correct wiring diagram I was able to get it working. I've also got the early type hazard warning switch and warning light cluster which will eventually be fitted. Some wiring modifications will be necessary but it is do-able.