New distributor orientation?

[Jeffds1360]

Knowing me, I'll get it wrong!

New 45D arrived.  Had to strip the 'sleeve' with the clamp, off the old one and insert the new one into that. New one had a piddly little clamp with only one bracket and is half the thickness of the original. The new distributor sits solidly on the sleeve but where the original clamp goes is twice as wide as it needs to be ??

I note there are two notches in the sleeve at the bottom,  but no lugs for them to enter Is that right?

I realise the dog should slot in and can be 180 degrees out. I aimed to orientate the 45D about the same as the 25D but the dynamo wires foul the cap clip! I guess I can rotate 90 degrees and just put H T leads in order.

Is there a preferred orientation for simple access and does the dog gear rotate into place or just drop in?

 I have gently bolted it back in place but am reluctant to fully tighten it in case the sleeve or dog needs some form of orientation. 

Thanks for reading and sorry for being such a bother

[johny]

yes replacing the dizzy can be a bit confusing and easy to get wrong. You have to remember the piston comes up to top dead centre twice for the one rotation of the dizzy rotor arm so when a spark is generated the rotor arm can be pointing to the right lead but the piston associated with that lead is on its exhaust stroke not compression.

If you didnt leave the engine at a known position when you removed the old dizzy you need to turn it over by hand (clockwise looking on the front of the engine) with the spark plugs removed. Put your finger over the number 1 spark plug hole and as you turn the engine you'll eventually feel air being pushed out as the crank pulley comes up to TDC. The engine is now on compression stroke cylinder 1 so you have to install the dizzy so that the rotor arm points to the lead attached to its cap that goes to that cylinder.

Put the dizzy loosely in place and move the rotor round until you feel the dog drop into the slot WITH the rotor pointing to number 1 lead. I like to have the vac unit roughly parallel to the side of the engine as it looks nice😍

[NonMember]

Bear in mind that the dog is actually not quite symmetrical (it's offset slightly), so while it looks like it will fit 180 out, doing so puts stress on things and it tries to jump out.

[Pete Lewis]

 Rob  Snap   Ha 

and the  dog drive is off set so it  only drops in in one place,,...............  but with a wing and prayer you can make it fit 180 deg out with a bit of force 

 there is  desired position  for  the drive gear if youve removed it  .. you need to read up on how   

pete

[Jeffds1360]

Oh gawd, so I did not need to remove the pedestal !

Neither of my books makes that clear. 

I'm off to bed bugrit. 

[Pete Lewis]

you just have to drop the skew gear in to align the oil pump drive rod  and remember it turns as the helical drops in place   the wsm gives the aprox angle the drive slot should be  so the No1 and dizzy case orientation  all works out  ie dodge the generator , and other gubins that the vac unit might foul or restrict rotation for timing setting.

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

I remember doing this way back on the GT6 and taking photographs of where it was meant to align when it dropped into place; on the 6-cylinder it has to point to no 9 pushrod, but it's easier on the Heralds / four cylinders as it only has to line up with the two studs on the distributor housing at TDC, so you're fitting it at right angles to the block - in the pic below the dotted line would be straight up / down for the Herald. Just make sure it's the correct orientation of the D-slot in the drive so that you're pointing to the correct lead on the cap.

 

 

[poppyman]

It's a shame Lucas didn't copy Bosch with their distributors and have a mark on the body where the rotor pointed to, no marking up no hassle. If ever i take a dizzy out i mark it with a small chisel.

Tony.

[Jeffds1360]

Hi lads and thanks again. I did not remove the skew gear so that is no problem. 

It was the pedestal that I called the 'sleeve' in my OP.

I'm having a day off as I have the wobbles after the oxford covid jab

[poppyman]

1 hour ago, Jeffds1360 said:

Hi lads and thanks again. I did not remove the skew gear so that is no problem. 

It was the pedestal that I called the 'sleeve' in my OP.

I'm having a day off as I have the wobbles after the oxford covid jab

Due mine on Friday....Hope you feel better tomorrow Jeff.

Tony.

[Pete Lewis]

while the pedestal is off check the gear endfloat when refitting it 

Pete

[Jeffds1360]

Dizzy in place.

Engine at TDC No1 (pulley mark's aligned)

Points gap at 15 thou.

Dizzy rotated clockwise to points just opening. ( or closing in this case)

Is this right? Screwdriver pointing to position of No 1 lead. (Right next to condenser)

Seems a long way away???

[johny]

are you certain that the engine is at TDC no. 1 on its compression and not exhaust stroke?

[Jeffds1360]

I will double check Johny but even so it would be in same orientation. 

Should it be in line with No 1  lead?

How the heck could I have ended up circa 45 degrees out.

I'm getting a bit p'd off with my incompetence  !!!!

[johny]

No thats what Ive been trying to tell you - if you now rotate the engine one complete revolution to TDC again the dizzy will only rotate half a revolution and the rotor will be pointing exactly the opposite direction.....

[Jeffds1360]

Yes, understood, but that still puts it half way between two 'lead locations'

I thought the roter should be pointing, or touching the cap contacts......... when the points open.

Or have I got it all wrong again

[johny]

yes the rotor arm should be lined up to the cap contact but dont forget youve got the dizzy at TDC at the moment and when you set the correct ignition timing the spark will come at 10º BTDC (and more as the engine revs higher) so the rotor arm will be moved more anticlockwise with respect to the cap... 

[Jeffds1360]

Thanks again but the picture was taken after rotating the distributor clockwise to the point where the contact points are just opening ( closing).... so.... I am confused.

Not to worry my friend. Heavy snow falling in the north east 

My garage is at 2 degrees so I've given up and am studying pictures in the warm, of dizziness at tdc 

[johny]

ahhh that doesnt sound right. As you rotate the dizzy clockwise the points should just start to open as they hit the cam lobe. I think youve gone over the lobe and are on its down side so you need to either go back to the leading edge (turn anticlockwise) or on to the next cam lobe (turn more clockwise)....

[Jeffds1360]

Well..... I don't know johny. I seem capable of cocking up every job I try on this car.

I got it for fun/ memories.  I'm taking a breather now and will get back later.

Any more ideas, please post.

I don't suppose that when I took the pedestal off by mistake, that I could have moved the dog ???

[Pete Lewis]

my thoughts  as well 

its the cold  ....wrecks any plan 

pic with the rotor off would confirm this 

Pete

[johny]

No Jeff I think youre almost there! If you keep on turning the dizzy body clockwise until the points just start to open I reckon the rotor arm will align nicely with the cap contact...

And dont forget its the hard work that makes driving all the more enjoyable🤗

 

[NonMember]

25 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:

the picture was taken after rotating the distributor clockwise to the point where the contact points are just opening ( closing).

Opening or closing? Which is it? It really, really matters!

you need to rotate the disi clockwise until the points OPEN, as I see johny has just said.

[Jeffds1360]

AAAAAAAAHHH. WOT A DICK

so embarrassing 

Thank you thank you thank you.

Bloody Geordie novices :(.

Reet... back out to fire her up.

Gimme 1/2 hour.

[Pete Lewis]

4 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:

AAAAAAAAHHH. WOT A DICK

No   thats Dougs alternative website 

Pete