Distributor advice

[Andy McGhee]

Hi all

My F6 (CIE engine) has the following Ducellier distributor: R324 C33. I have a brand new 5 Mk 1 (956cc) distributor, R268 C34; will this be okay to use on the F6? If so, what effects will it have on fuel consumption and, er, performance?
The other new distributor I have is for a Renault-engined Volvo 340: R310 C33 - would this one be okay? The toothed wheel on the vacuum advance is in a completely different position, but presumably could be adjusted. I just don't know enough about how distributors work!

 

[mr-reno-139]

physically either would fit and run i would use 956 and set dwell and experiment with timing
mind you if there is nothing wrong with original i would probably stick with that
when i was repairing 4s and 5s on a daily basis we had proper petrol 4 star complete with lead so what worked ok then may not be so good now

running the timing retarded will cause power loss
too far advanced will cause pinking and possible engine damage
fitting the wrong distributor may be correct at low revs but then be wrong timing at higher revs

for my sons 850 mini race car we had one modded after a rolling road session
may be alittle extreme for a road going r4 ( but did gain 8 bhp )

but then again maybe santa pod is coming up soon

 

[Andy McGhee]

Thanks for the advice - very helpful. The advantage of the other two distributors is that you can adjust the points externally; for some reason, the points on the original distributor keep closing up - I've already changed the baseplate once, but am having problems with points gap and condenser failure. Do you think the 5 956 distributor could cause engine damage?