Howdy,

I thought I'd make a thread on my classic. She's a 1982 w/ a 1275 motor. Interior wise, everything is factory. I bought her while stationed in the UK and finally she's arrived.

Here is she when I picked her up at Galveston, TX:



Does anyone have a 'how-to' on how to install a distributor?

v/r
Joe

 

Very nice, more pics please.

 

got the Haynes?

Section 5B-8

from there you'll need a timing light . . .

 

Hi,

I am replacing it. I am a first time Mini owner and know nothing of this type of car. I did read somewhere that I need to do the timing when I replace the distributor. I did a search on the UK Mini forum and didn't really come up w/ a solid tutorial.

 

in a VERY CONDENSED form

1. Bump the engine until the timing mark is at zero

2. Remove the dizzy cap and you should find that the rotor is pointing to plug #1; if not try again as you are 180 out (exhaust cycle versus compression)

3. Once aligned in this way you can loosen the dizzy hold down bolt, disconnect the wires and vac' advance hose and remove the dizzy, it should easily lift straight out. Note the general alignment of the dizzy - side the vacuum advance it etc.

4. Orient your new dizzy in the same general position: rotor point towards plug 1, vac on the proper side ... the shaft should slide right into the hole and you'll feel the 'tangs' engage down in never never land when it is seated properly. Re attach the hold down clamp, wires and hose, replace the cap (or move wires to new cap - ensure the order stays the same!) and it should start but will probably run poorly until you set the timing correctly. {setting the timing is done by loosening the hold down clamp and twisting the dizzy changing the angle of how it is oriented to the motor ... while watching the timing mark with a timing light which fires when the #1 plug fires. You are adjusting when exactly the plug fires in the piston's cycle. I run my 1275 at 8 degree Before Top Dead Center BTDC but this can vary depending on engine setup. 8 should be a decent starting point tho.)

PM if you want more help .... or go find the Haynes!

 

I'll be honest and say that it sounds kind of scary doing a distributor.

I'll post more photos later.

 

P.S never remove the dizzy from the block as you may drop the dizzy drive shaft into the G/box and this will mean an engine out and strip down to retrive it.....but as said above get yourself a workshop manuel......

 

if one wants to replace the dizzy, how does one do this without removing the old one?

Once one is comfortable pulling the dizzy, they change points on the workbench making a dropped screw much less of an issue . . .

I learned from watching an 'old school' mechanic ..... watching someone do this with confidence was a real big help . . .

{I'm not sure how you'd 'drop the shaft' . . . . mine comes out as one fully connected unit}

yet another issue is available clearances when doing this on most Minis .... I however can put my car into service mode in about 3 minutes and this makes the job much easier . . . .

 

well to remove the distributor loosen clamp and then slowly rotate dizzy and gently pull out but BEWARE the the drive shaft does not come out with dizzy as this will drop into the gear box and to retrieve it you will need to remove engine and strip it down.....Capt Bj the distributor and drive shaft are two seperate parts and the shaft will drop into the box if not carefull.......and if you ever want to remove the drive shaft you will need a 3" long bolt to screw into the drive shaft ....this will stop the shaft from dropping into the box.....

 

I've pulled mine at LEAST a dozen times and everything is held together

the dizzy and the shaft are ONE IME

and the service manual does not support you as I read it . . . .

not HAYNES ... the FACTORY ... which I happen to have . . .

 

Nope. Mk1 is right, the drive shaft with the gear on it that engages with the camshaft is a separate part from the dist. As good an explanation as that was Capt BJ (and it was!) to someone with no experience working on a car as it sounds like the OP is, your best advice was the first bit - buy a good shop manual, and read it - over and over - till you understand how it works, before you tackle it. This is the dist drive shaft, it shouldn't come out, but sometimes they do, and they can drop into the gearbox, and you'll never get it out if it does without pulling the motor.

 

Thank You MINIdave

 

I think the dif' is WHAT dizzy are we talking about

OP says 1982 1275 .....

which dizzy would that be ... and is it then an issue as you warn?

on a 45 0r a 59 .... NOT AN ISSUE

here's a 45 and a 59 . . .



how would one 'drop the shaft'?

 

Hi guys. Thanks for all the advice. I just got my Haynes manual. Very excited. However, my wife is about to deliver this baby so I'm afraid I won't have time to tinker w/ the car. I did however take my carpet out and discovered a small rust hole in the drivers/pass. side floor. My plan is to get that patched after my 2nd minion is born.

 

Congratulations on both new babies! Good luck.

 

those are the distributor only the drive shaft is the part that is below the dist.....and if not carefull when pulling it out IT WILL DROP INTO THE GEARBOX....

 

Well having never done a total engine teardown I had to dig into this one a while and finally DID find the part you refer you on the schematics . . .

it is "SPINDLE, Distributor drive" 12G4499 or 12G3560 depending on year and/or block (a or a+)

so I'm guessing you've dropped one? Because the factory service manual does not mention a concern at all in the dizzy remove/replace procedure . . . (or Haynes)


They have a procedure to remove/replace the spindle tho . . . with no warnings about dropping. PM if you want the pages . . .

Maybe the fact that the dizzy shaft (and spindle) sits nearly horizontal has something to do with it?

OR ... every warning "if you drop this" would be a curious issue

I'm sure OP who has been scared off from doing a dizzy swap himself appreciates our discussion.

P.S. I guess I'll just send this as a question to MiniWorld . . . "is dropping the dizzy shaft SO much a concern, I should not replace the o-ring . . ."

 

I bought one of these:



My old looks like this:



Are there any special wiring that I need to worry about w/ the new one? I only disconnected one cable from the old one.

 

that wont work on your fly wheel yours is the old type of fly whee and starter that pull the gear to the fly wheel your new Motor is for a verto fly and the teeth of the ring gear are on the other way round.....

 

Doh! I would need to change my flywheel in order to utilize the new starter I purchased?

 

Double post.

 

You will have to fit a Verto set up and you will also need a new clutch cover.....

 

or in other words

easier to get the correct starter . . .

who'd ya buy it from? Some places are more friendly about returns of electrical parts . . .

This is one of the reasons I recommend getting the FREE parts catalog from MOSS. It has the same line diagrams as appear in the factory parts catalog. Sometimes, when there are 'options' for the part you want to replace, looking at the diagram can help you ID which one you have . . . in this case I think it would have. The 'profile' of the two starters is quite different. 'newer' is not better if it does not fit . . .

 

I got it from Britishstarters.com. Dave has been really cool w/ exchanges/returns.

 

Also, I just noticed that the front of the car sits lower than the rear. Is this normal? Or is there something wrong w/ my front suspension?