Good quality ignition parts
Discussion
I need to buy a new set of HT leads, rotor arm and distributor cap and as it's a classic British car with a Lucas distributor.. I thought this would be the best forum for recommendations.
Some parts are suspiciously cheap and the more expensive ones look like the cheap ones...but with more £££
Hope you can help..
Some parts are suspiciously cheap and the more expensive ones look like the cheap ones...but with more £££
Hope you can help..
Edited by 100SRV on Sunday 13th April 10:41
I've always found NGK plugs to be a fair choice, although my current bikes only want Denso.
Leads are just leads and anything reasonable should just work.
I've never needed to replace a rotor arm, it's not really a wearing part?
Distributor cap you'd hope an OEM one would fit OK and work.
The problem is, it's a long time since any cars were made with this stuff, even 'old stock' Lucas parts may have been outsourced long after production stopped.
Points were always my problem, then you realise that the distributor and advance/retard mech is worn.
Leads are just leads and anything reasonable should just work.
I've never needed to replace a rotor arm, it's not really a wearing part?
Distributor cap you'd hope an OEM one would fit OK and work.
The problem is, it's a long time since any cars were made with this stuff, even 'old stock' Lucas parts may have been outsourced long after production stopped.
Points were always my problem, then you realise that the distributor and advance/retard mech is worn.
OutInTheShed said:
...I've never needed to replace a rotor arm, it's not really a wearing part?
Distributor cap you'd hope an OEM one would fit OK and work.
The problem is, it's a long time since any cars were made with this stuff, even 'old stock' Lucas parts may have been outsourced long after production stopped.
Points were always my problem, then you realise that the distributor and advance/retard mech is worn.
You can't have driven many miles in a car with points ignition if you think the rotor arm isn't a wearing part! They get spark-eroded to the point where they misfire, or crack because the plastic goes brittle with all the heat-cycles.Distributor cap you'd hope an OEM one would fit OK and work.
The problem is, it's a long time since any cars were made with this stuff, even 'old stock' Lucas parts may have been outsourced long after production stopped.
Points were always my problem, then you realise that the distributor and advance/retard mech is worn.
And pray tell where you expect to find an OEM distributor cap for a 1953 Rover (or insert classic car of choice).
M138 said:
Contrary to what people say about Lucas but when I was running a stag with two sets of points, my go to brand was always nos Lucas parts, far superior to the repro items available.
Thank you, I'll used that NOS as my guide.I should have typed HT leads..
The problem is misfiring and spitting back through the carburettor. Number two doesn't seem to fire but it's not the lead. Thinking this morning I remember feeling at least one notch in the 'plug contacts so maybe the cap is past it's best. I didn't have a continuity tester so I could check. The fault remained with each if the three rotor arms I tried, red, black, black riveted with Lucas brand.
The sick vehicle is my Dad's '58 Land-Rover and "not local".
littleredrooster said:
You can't have driven many miles in a car with points ignition if you think the rotor arm isn't a wearing part! They get spark-eroded to the point where they misfire, or crack because the plastic goes brittle with all the heat-cycles.
And pray tell where you expect to find an OEM distributor cap for a 1953 Rover (or insert classic car of choice).
I certainly did about 30k miles in one 60s car without changing the rotor arm.And pray tell where you expect to find an OEM distributor cap for a 1953 Rover (or insert classic car of choice).
OEM would be Lucas for a Rover?
Maybe original 60s rotor arms were not made of cheesemetal?
The plastic was probably different too? Some kind of 'bakelite' derivative?
I think a lot of service parts made from the 80s onwards were pretty poor.
The quality of 'points' I could get tipped me over the edge into getting electronic ignition with magnetic timing sensor for my bike and I never looked back.
Before that I had bikes with proper magnetos, the points on those lasted a long time and were made of some incredibly hard alloy, presumably tungsten based.
I’ve found my points equipped vehicles run significantly better with traditional copper cored HT leads and resistance spark plugs. The more modern carbon cored stuff already has a resistance value and using resistance plugs too is often a bridge too far for points ignition which can exacerbate other problems.
At the risk of remote diagnostics though (rarely successful)….. you might want to do a compression check. If the Landy has been used extensively with unleaded then the problem may be with valve recession/deterioration.
At the risk of remote diagnostics though (rarely successful)….. you might want to do a compression check. If the Landy has been used extensively with unleaded then the problem may be with valve recession/deterioration.
FlyVintage said:
I’ve found my points equipped vehicles run significantly better with traditional copper cored HT leads and resistance spark plugs. The more modern carbon cored stuff already has a resistance value and using resistance plugs too is often a bridge too far for points ignition which can exacerbate other problems.
At the risk of remote diagnostics though (rarely successful)….. you might want to do a compression check. If the Landy has been used extensively with unleaded then the problem may be with valve recession/deterioration.
Good tip re the HT leads.At the risk of remote diagnostics though (rarely successful)….. you might want to do a compression check. If the Landy has been used extensively with unleaded then the problem may be with valve recession/deterioration.
It's on Lumenition optronic.
Cylinder head is an ACR gas-flowed "power plus" with hardened valve seats.
V10Mike said:
I can tell you from experience that the cheap rotor arms short internally. The red ones from Distributor Doctor seem to be worth the extra money. Likewise get a good set of spiral core ignition wires. I like the US makes - Accel, Mallory, MSD etc.
I echo this. Martin does top-quality ignition parts. Makes his own HT leads too, which are far superior to the usual classic car suppliers.V10Mike said:
I can tell you from experience that the cheap rotor arms short internally. The red ones from Distributor Doctor seem to be worth the extra money. Likewise get a good set of spiral core ignition wires. I like the US makes - Accel, Mallory, MSD etc.
I echo this. Martin does top-quality ignition parts. Makes his own HT leads too, which are far superior to the usual classic car suppliers.100SRV said:
M138 said:
Contrary to what people say about Lucas but when I was running a stag with two sets of points, my go to brand was always nos Lucas parts, far superior to the repro items available.
Thank you, I'll used that NOS as my guide.I should have typed HT leads..
The problem is misfiring and spitting back through the carburettor. Number two doesn't seem to fire but it's not the lead. Thinking this morning I remember feeling at least one notch in the 'plug contacts so maybe the cap is past it's best. I didn't have a continuity tester so I could check. The fault remained with each if the three rotor arms I tried, red, black, black riveted with Lucas brand.
The sick vehicle is my Dad's '58 Land-Rover and "not local".
silentbrown said:
ARHarh said:
If its just number 2 not firing swap the plug and lead from number 3 to number 2 and visa versa. See if the issue moves to number 3. You should then know if its electrical or mechanical, E.G. no compression.
Unless it's a fault in the distributor cap!
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