[andrew honychurch]

hi Andrew, thanks for the response. There is a well known problem with a batch of Divers helmet distributors fitted to T16s that causes coils to over heat due to shorting out internally. It was recounted to me that one one outing in the 1960s with the local TA 6 out of 8 T16s broke down and had to be recovered with the same issue. ( back to Ashford Richard!) Ignition failure when hot. Not long after this the British Army scrapped all their Carriers anyway.
I have spent a long while discussing this with others and concluded that its probably something to do with rotor arms that short out and overheat the coils. I dont really have any more appetite to persevere with the divers helmet as getting it on and off the engine is a pain in the back side and at 57 years old if an electronic distributor sorts the problem out for good, then thats ok for me. If anyone else wants to solve the age old problem I would be delighted to hear from them. Reference Tobin, he fitted an Electronic distributor made in the US but now no longer manufactured hence my interest in the Stromberg dizzy. thanks for the inputs chaps.

EDIT. I should add that I have deleted the original 6 v coil and have an adaptor on the top of the divers helmet which takes an standard HT lead to the coil. Its a while since I even started this T16 up but from memory I am running a standard 12 v coil. I could add a resistor wire to the ignition system and ballasted coil and see whether it works any better. The auto choke also takes a feed from the starter solenoid to provide full choke on start so I can use that feed since its very close to the coil location......or just go with the electronic distributor. To quote Tobin Jones who had suffered for a long time with the same issues as me, his T16 has been transformed by the electronics distributor and I now remember it was made by Mallory which got taken over I think.