A couple months ago I took a flyer on an NOS Lucas Jag distributor for an 86 XJ6. According to the seller, it was for an Australian Jag. Not sure what that meant but I bid on it anyway because the picture looked like the same distributor in my car. I figured I could at least scavenge it for parts at the price I bid.

So I win the part ($30). I compare it to my distributor in my car and it had a slightly taller mounting flange which I chalked up to Australian cars having thicker brackets that hold the distributor in place. Turns out the end piece (bottom of shaft) is also slightly different.

So what I did was pull the drift pin out of my old and new distributor and swapped the ends. If you ever do this, be aware that the ends are "directional".

Ultimately, I installed it yesterday and it works great. Car idles much better which leads me to believe the old one was wearing out. I have not even set the timing perfectly yet. So the aussie distributor will work in a non-aussie car....FYI.

 

I know what you mean about similar but different distributors.

I have a strange story about series 3 distributors new from the Dealer. I worked at a dealer several years ago and a customer needed a new dist (old one locked up) so I ordered one from parts. The new one arrived and I installed it. The engine ran like crap and I finally hooked the car up to the old 'scope' to watch the ignition pattern. There were 8 sparks per dist revolution. I pulled the cap and sure enough the reluctor had 8 points. I ordered a NEW dist again and it had the same 8 point reluctor. I swapped the 6 point reluctor from the old dist and the engine ran normally. The parts dept had no answer but they called parts tech to complain.

Maybe the dist was originally for a Rover or something???

bob gauff

 

That is an interesting situation. I wonder why that happened. Seems to me the guts of those things are all the same but there are small variations in external components.

 

This comes up every so often. Here are some pics which I think illustrate what the difference is:

http://www.jag-lovers.org/snaps/snap...?id=1259452299

There are about 6-7 different part numbers for the Ser III XJ6 distributors depending on spec and market, with Aussie cars having their own part number for a period of time. Later, other markets and Aus had the same distributor.

As for the different mounting flanges, well, I'm sure there's some rhyme or reason behind it. Might not be a pleasant rhyme or a good reason, but I'm sure there's an explanation of some sort :-)

Cheers
DD