Engine and Transmission Tech

I have a 1969 Rover 3.5 with the original distributor. As far as I know it has never been rebuilt, but I converted it over to a Pertronics igniter a few years ago.
There is nothing wrong with the current distributor as far as I can tell except it is 40 years old. But I am curious what improvements I would notice if I was to have the distrubtor rebuilt or replace it.

I thought about getting it rebuilt but that is probably @200.00 and would involve shipping etc.

I understand that any distrubutor from a Buick up to a 350 will work? This would probably be a cheaper choice and available from the local wrecker. Of course it would have to be electronic.

Which one would be best.

Thanks

Bruce

I've got a HEI that would work if you want it. I was about to scrap it.

Bruce-A single point Buick/olds distributor will drop right in. The HEI units are good if you can wire them in and have the room. I have several of the Rover 3500s distributors, 1 good and one cooked. I used a 1961 to 1963 Buick 215 to get one of the Rovers started and worked fine. You might want to look into the electronic conversion for the single point buick/olds. The distributors are cheap from a wrecker and the kit is resonable too. The other is to go to a Mallory or Accel electronis distrubitor that will run atleast $200.00. Your issue about being 40 years old is valid. The bushing went bacd on one of mine an once it was running you would rotate the body to adjust timing it would die. Even touching it would kill the motor. Beware of worn bushings! My last quote in 1995 was about 100.00 in maching to get it rebuild.........buick single went in!

Mike..
I thought that I read somewhere that the distributor gears are ground different on the Rover from the Buick...

While they might physically work there was something about the pitch difference that might cause a wear problem.. at any rate it seemed a simple fix to pop the roll pin out and change them around to match the specific cam in the engine.

Thanks for the offer Nicolas, but for the moment I will have to keep that in mind while I find out what an HEI is.

What I was thinking is I could get a distributor from a Buick (up to a 350) which would already be electronic (in my mind the electronics would be like the pertronics. Inside the distributor cap) and just drop the distributor in. Perhaps having to change over the gearing, which shouldn't be any big deal.

Is this realistic? And is so what years Buick would suit my purpose's

Bruce



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2009 09:15PM by Bruce Mills.

The early pre SD1 distributors are the same as the early buicks. This would apply to the Rover 3500, MGB-GT V8s and Morgan Plus 8s. The later Rover SD1s 1977-ish and TR8s have a different bottom that drives the oil pump gears. The oil pump gears in turn are also different for early vs late front covers. You case you can take the buick and any buick aftermarket and drop it right in for your application. If you use a later from cover you can cut the male drive tab off of the early distributor and use the later drive gear. Ironic enough you cannot use the late distributor in the older covers because the male tab for the early gears that is required is cut off already unless you change the oil pump gears.

Hi Mike

This confuses me a bit "You case you can take the buick and any buick aftermarket and drop it right in for your application"

"Ironic enough you cannot use the late distributor in the older covers"

The front cover on my 1969 Rover is original. So I can't use the newer distributors? Any idea of up to what year would work?

If all I can use is the older distributors and they are none electronic then I might as well get mine rebuilt. It would then save me the cost and hassle of buying a new Pertronics uinit and selling my existing one

.

The later rover V8 distributors cannot be used in the P6 cover. As I described before Rover changed the oil pump gears and distrubutors to match in about 1976/1977 when they built the SD1s. The buick distributors for the 215 and 300 can be dropped into your P6 cover.

"The later rover V8 distributors cannot be used in the P6 cover. "
"The Buick distributors for the 215 and 300 can be dropped into your P6 cover"

Thanks Mike. I understand it perfectly now.

Bruce

There's lots of aftermarket types around too which are, arguably, more reliable than the Lucas ones and less costly when it comes to replacing parts. I've run an early SD1 type Lucas with a Lumenition kit in my 4.6 for a number of years with no problems but have now swapped in an Australian built Scorcher dissy with a custom advance curve and all Bosch internals.

Rob

I believe that you can change out the oil pump drive and use whatever dizzy you want in whatever cover you want. FWIW, I bought a nice rebuilt Delco dizzy for my 300 for about $40 from Advance. No core. Included points, condenser and brand new vacuum advance and bushings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2009 02:49AM by Dave.

Your unit with the Pertronics is probably about the best you will do for a street ignition unit. Rebuilding might tighten up the bushings and produce a bit less spark scatter, but mostly the best thing you can do is get the advance curve tailored for your application. That will really be felt in the seat. I'd suggest contacting Jeff Schlemmer at Advanced Distributors (a sponsor of the newsletter) and see what he has to offer as to the advance curve that would best suit your car. Just check his website and fill out the distributor curve worksheet which is attached [www.advanceddistributors.com]

Thank Bill, I was coming to the same solution and in fact I have already looked at Jeff's site via this BBS 'Vendor Directory' page.
I have now printed out the form and will contact Jeff and go from there.

Thanks all for your advise.

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2009 08:00PM by Bruce Mills.

Please make sure to mention where you saw his ads!

Curtis
Excerpt from my e-mail

"Hi Jeff

I got your company info from the British V8 web page and Bill Young"