Electronic ignition upgrade

[colin jones]

Well after accidently putting a hole in my radiator while trying to get the fan shroud out and a fair amount of cursing and that's because I thought I could just do the job on the carrier without taking much apart. (WRONG) I had to take the radiator out to repair it and that was so much easier to change the timing cover over. I found that I needed to make a spacer plate that is
3/8" thick because the back of the crab dizzy is longer than the bell. The button extension in the picture above is not the correct part as you "WILL" need that spacer. They probably are available from the speed shops but I made a very basic one from a piece of 20mm plate. You learn something everyday. It will all be worth it at the end of the day!

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by colin jones

I found that I needed to make a spacer plate that is 3/8" thick because the back of the crab dizzy is longer than the bell.

Colin, you don't need a spacer, you just need to discard the button extension. You only need the spacer if you have a pre-42 camshaft. Your motor has a post-42 camshaft, so the crab dizzy will fit straight on. Someone in the past has converted it to use a divers helmet distributor, by fitting the button extension. You just need to undo the conversion by removing it.

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[colin jones]

Hi Tony and thanks for the great information. I do in fact need the spacer as my engine is a pre42 model. The engines that I posted are just a photo of a couple of engines I have for parts. The carrier I'm upgrading has its original engine which does need the spacer.
I'm sure this thread will be an invaluable source of information for many in time to come. I've certainly learnt some future time saving lessons here.
Colin.

[Tony Wheeler]

Sorry Colin, I assumed the motor was the one with the new timing gear. I should have known you'd be on top of things! Nice job on the spacer BTW, I had a lot of trouble finding one last year. No one had ever heard of them, until finally I got onto Mike Davidson of Flatattack Racing in SA, who still had one lying around. I have an earlier type on another motor, it's cast alloy and shaped like the gasket. No doubt these were common in the '40s and '50s for rodders converting to crabs. I haven't come across the button extension before but I knew of their existence. They'd be quite rare I imagine, as very few rodders would swap a crab dizzy for a divers helmet. I suspect they were used when fitting a post-42 race camshaft into a pre-42 motor. I notice there's a stamping on the nose of that particular camshaft, which is what the racers did when they ground special cams. They used their own codes so no one knew what grind they were running! I wonder if it's a reground camshaft, they often made their way through several race motors as each one blew up!

[Lew Skelton]

Funny how things happen at the same time either side of the Tasman! I picked up a mallory electronic ign kit from an ex army landrover v8 a while back, i was looking at it and thought that with a bit of jiggery pokery it could be made fit into my crab dizzy, so pictures would be handy at this point but buggered if i can find the camera. Basically i cut the head off the landrover dizzy turned the housing down slightly on the lathe at work, cut the shaft and slotted it into the crab housing. Ill track down the camera and post some photos.

[Lew Skelton]

I finally found a camera, also basically finished the dizzy. I had to limit the total advance as it was about 24 deg. Fitted and test run today, ill need to tidy up the leads but otherwise sorted. Here is a pic of it in the vice prior to fitting.