Will a distributor out of a 67 340 work in a 3.4 Mark 1 engine? Pictures attached to show the numbers. I'm not sure what if anything is different. First photo is of the late unit, second the early one.

 

I expect it will physically fit, although they are a different series of distributor, so the cap is probably different. I would expect the advance curve is different, with different weights and springs inside, and likely a different vacuum capsule.

 

Why mess about with guess work and an old distributor when for around £56 you can buy a new one with electronic ignition rather than old points.
https://simonbbc.com/lucas-45d6-type-distributor/

 

You can't just change distributors ***** nilly. Advance curves etc. change considerably by engine. Many of these fit alls can't replicate original specs.

e.g. a S Type 3.8 ~ 8 to 1 CR takes a 41063A. ~ our cars use part of the 22D6 family.

Bit of a battered unit.


Made in March 1965 in much better condition than the above.




Let me try & find the Lucas Distributor chart & try & post it. It's half a mile long. See pdf. below.

Something for you to browse. All Jaguars are covered IIRC.

Then it should really be set up on one of these to ensure in spec ~ & they work surprisingly well:

 

https://trigger-wheels.com/store/con...n-uk/p141.html

The link goes to a modern fully mappable system. There are other types and suppliers. If absolute originality isn't an issue, it may well be the way to go.

 

I did the EDIS system on my S Type. Made a noticeable difference to the torque going up hills. Mine was part of the Megasquirt box, but I did spark first, and then when that was running well, I added fuel injection.

 

They work very well. Sometimes the fully mappable is a fib ~ rather a series of choices to be made. Don't ever buy a unit without a limp home function.

I went the originality route for concours & the car runs so beautifully I shall leave well alone. Certainly no lack of performance. I had the distributor professionally rebuilt to as new spec.

My only sin is fitting a Pertronix Ignitor as it is not inspected for concours & is under the distributor cap thereby getting rid of cursed points & setting dwell ~ available positive or negative earth. There is nothing wrong with the good old distributor. If it gives trouble at the roadside it is easy to fix & fit standard points & capacitor, new rotor etc. If you blow a component in your little mappable box you are stuffed. The engine compartment is a hostile environment for an ECU although many are mounted there with huge heatsinks. But then I use tube amplifiers on midrange & treble because they sound more realistic & faithful to the original performance to my ears which is all that matters. I only use solid state on bass. i.e. bi-amped. I maintain the practice in a full surround sound array with Maggies (Magnepan ~ Magneplanar Loudspeakers the size of a door & barely as thick) with ribbon tweeters.

I can't get stuck miles from nowhere with my Audio System if a tube blows. SA has large wide open spaces between towns.

 

Glyn. I get the question of converting to electronic ignition quite regularly from local club members. My answer is very much along the lines of your approach. If you intend to use the car locally and not go for long range driving between towns then you are probably OK.
However, once you leave the high density of the Australian coastal towns and venture inland you are better off with the basic distributor/coil system. If anything fails, then it is easily repairable by yourself or a local mechanic.

One person I know who has a MK2 lives in a really remote locality. He carries a complete ready to mount distributor, coil and fuel pump as spares in his car.

 

Bill I converted to an electronic distributor several years ago and having had one module fail I simply bought two replacements and have one in the boot as a spare along with a coil, fan belt, plugs, one long HT lead, spare tyre and a full tool kit. The problem is how far do you go in carrying spares. I have a spare set of carbs in the garage, plug leads, fuel pumps, gauges, switches, spare glass, starter motor, alternator, PAS pump, radiator. Do I put all these in the boot or just carry my RAC card in case I break down.
I understand Australia is different where a trip down to the nearest shop can be a couple of hundred miles in some places but if you live in Sydney or Perth it can't be that much different to living in Bristol.

 

Rob ~ where we differ is that I don't want any thing in my trunk other than an umbrella, 2 X foldable lightweight BRG chairs & an electric cooler box for shows or the reverse where the trunk/boot is nearly full for a long run into the hinterland.
You have the best set up I know. Care to show us a pic of what you have done in your trunk. I can steal one from the Register but think you should post it with explanation because it's your concept & very good.

For shows I put the car's paperwork, owners handbook, service vouchers, lube chart etc. in the boot/trunk

 

I will start a new thread Glyn to show my storage solution.

 

Great & then I'll link it.

See here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...locker-264628/

 

Tools and spares:
I used to travel with the Mk2 boot half full of tools and spares. I never used any of them for repairs away from home. Luggage went on the back seat - I have thought of replacing the back seat with an aluminium box.

Distributor reliability Vs electronics:
I've written before that a Mk2 is close to unstoppable. As I recall, mine has stopped 3 times, all in the first years of my father's ownership of the car. Once was the fuel pump - let's not go back to that - and twice the distributor. Both distributor problems had some previous owner legacy factors and were vulnerability rather than internal mechanical issues. Early on, there was the slightest of water leaks from the engine end of the top hose. The drops that fell on the dissie cap were just sufficient to short the high voltage. It was a difficult one to diagnose as it occurred only with a partially warmed engine. Another time the ground lead fell off the distributor.

My Daimler's 12 cylinder distributor has never stopped the car. However, it has consumed rotor arms, vacuum capsules and required careful freeing up and lubrication of the centrifugal advance mechanism. Sitting in the middle of the V, it's in a hot environment. As a mid-1980s car, it's in the bad period for the arrival of electronics. In spite of that, the Lucas P-digital ECU and the electronic part of the ignition are yet to fail. The car has had electrical faults: poor ground connections and leads close to the exhaust (PO legacy), and relays (not made by the Prince of Darkness) give up.

Upgrades:
There are various levels. The first is stay original and maintain the distributor with best quality components. It has the advantage of familiarity, at least for those of us who can remember the arrival of the Beatles.
Petronix type igniters that replace the cam and contact breakers with a sensor and electronic control of primary current. They sit under the bonnet, usually inside the distributor, exposing the electronics to high temperatures. 1-2-3 ignition takes these a step further, eliminating mechanical control of vacuum and centrifugal advance with a choice of pre-set curves. It has the risks of the distributor location.
Finally, there's a trigger wheel on the front of the of the crankshaft, an ignition ECU located safely where you like, possibly a power module, and a single or separate coils. The ECU gives a fully mapped, 2-D, load-speed control of timing. Trims can be added for other engine variables and multiple. Many, certainly EDIS based Megasquirt have a limp home mode. Emerald, Megasquirt and others are just about cheap enough to carry a reserve, but seem to be very reliable. For me, if you aren't concerned with originality, this is the way to go. It will give by far the best results, especially if you have a rolling road mapping, but it is more effort. From what I've read, those who have done it are very happy with the results.


It comes down to what the individual feels good about. Ginger Baker was happy to drive a first generation Range Rover across North Africa; however, the modern terrorist seems to prefer the latest model Toyota Land Cruiser.

 

Cass
Yes for anyone living in the major Australian cities it would probably be something like Bristol.
The difference is once you go outside those city areas civilisation as you know it drops off rapidly on a logarithmic basis the further out you go.
And so does car servicing expertise.
My experience of previous living in what is considered the "outback" is that you have to be self-reliant in motoring.
Hence adhering to simple points coils and condenser which you can service ensures you will not be stuck 50 miles from town.
The distances involved in travel in inland Australia are difficult for persons not used to them to believe.
To travel to my wife's home is over 1000ks which is further than from London to Edinburgh. But there will be only 8 towns on the way and the last couple are 160Ks apart.
Incidentally we are still in the one state, Queensland.
Just trying to get people to understand the unique requirements in their respective localities.

Peter Note. My daughter who runs an outback town health clinic has just taken delivery of a new Toyota Landcruiser Station Wagon.( her 2nd or 3rd) Does this qualify her as a terrorist? She also like inoculating people with sharp needles!!

 

All the mining companies use those Toyota Landcruisers in Southern Africa. They are tough as hell & if you get stuck you can always fix them with a piece of farmer's fencing wire. When I lived in Aus they were prolific in harsh environments. Same in Brazil in places like Belo Horizonte ~ centre of mining country.

They are the only vehicles people carry spares for miles from nowhere. Although they seldom need them.

Land Rover's target market has changed since the days of the Defender & prior. A SWB Landie was simply known as a 88 Regular & you always carried spare halfshafts. Guaranteed to break a few. Land Rover said it was designed that way to save the Diffs. I'm not so sure I believe that.

 

Bill why do you live so far away from your wife? Is this another Australian quirk?

 

Bill, All cars seem to get associated with stereotypes. I chose the most colourful. In the UK, most of both makes seem to be used by mother's taking their children to school, where off roading is parking with one wheel on the curb. The terrorist thing was a newspaper story that some military couldn't obtain the Toyotas they ordered while a politician had seen that certain disreputable middle East groups seemed to have dozens. I prefer the image of Ginger Baker crossing the Sahara with his drum kit in the back of his Rangie. I wonder if he took a spare dizzie?

 

Nice to see that we are all stirred up over off road/remote area vehicles and their servicing.
Cass
Her ORIGINAL home (where I found her) which we still visit. Roughly 2 days drive but we nowadays fly in my Piper Cherokee 235 taking about 5 hours at 130 + Knots.
Peter
We have the same thing in Australia with heaps of 4-wheel drives polished up and never leaving the bitumen but a status symbol at school drop-offs and pickups.
We call them Queen Street cowboys referring to the main street of Brisbane in Queensland.
Apart from my daughter driving a Toyota Landcruiser Wagon, her husband drives a Landcruiser Ute and so does my eldest son .
They all have heavy duty bull bars as operating in remote areas with unfenced roads will invariably involve collisions with stock like cattle and sheep as well as kangaroos, feral pigs etc
Cheers

 

Bill,
It's wonderful to hear the designation "Ute" again (Utility). Reminds me of good times in Aus. As you know we call them "Bakkies" in SA.

In Australia Toyota will provide you with a Cab chassis should you wish. All sorts of inventive solutions go on the chassis. Many in heavily extruded aluminium.

Here only certain designated dealers will sell you a Cab chassis so you can build a glass delivery vehicle as an example.

 

I didn't know they were called "bakkies" in SA. You learn something new every day
The Ute. or utility was actually invented in Australia.
Previously there were only light trucks which were pretty rough & rugged.
A farmers wife wrote to Ford Australia asking for a car that could be used to carry things but could be sedan like for carrying people to church on Sunday.
So it got "invented" in 1936 or thereabouts.
The last models off the Ford and GM Holden lines were incredible with speeds and handling to rival any average sedan.
I own one which is a stock 4 litre Ford "Barra" engined ute designated BF2. Incredible acceleration and speed rivalling my X300 for get up and go but handling and ride not as good.
I only get to drive it occasionally as it is my wife's favourite transport which is understandable as she is a country girl from the outback.
I suspect we have drifted OT again.