Lucas or Ducelier distributor

Hello,

I'm looking at replacing the shielded distributor on my recently purchased FFR 109. Which is the better type of distributor, Lucas or Ducelier ?

I would like to keep it original but currently it's pinking in 3rd & 4th despite my retarding the ignition. The previous owner has added a new carb and claimed to have fitted lead free valve seats. He also supplied me with a new rotor and points. This and the fact he had a decent workshop has lead me to the conclusion he'd spent a fair bit of time & money trying to solve the problem and that the distributor may be knackered. Engine temp seems alright, though it does run on sometimes.

Might try some fancy (expensive) high octane fuel in it tomorrow to see if that helps.

Sputnik01 said:

Hello,

I'm looking at replacing the shielded distributor on my recently purchased FFR 109. Which is the better type of distributor, Lucas or Ducelier ?

I would like to keep it original but currently it's pinking in 3rd & 4th despite my retarding the ignition. The previous owner has added a new carb and claimed to have fitted lead free valve seats. He also supplied me with a new rotor and points. This and the fact he had a decent workshop has lead me to the conclusion he'd spent a fair bit of time & money trying to solve the problem and that the distributor may be knackered. Engine temp seems alright, though it does run on sometimes.

Might try some fancy (expensive) high octane fuel in it tomorrow to see if that helps.

Click to expand...

the distributor only fails with the advance weight mechanism or play in shaft bushes

I have to admit that I'm also concerned about the availability and cost of the FFR bits. So I'm probably going to change it anyway.

Went out and had a fiddle with the timing again and retarded another 6-7 deg and seem to have got rid most of the problem. I reckon it was about 12 - 15 deg out. It seems to have been set up for easier starting as the starter sounds a bit like a dog/cat when you accidentally stand on it's tail.

One thing I have discovered is that the ignition resistor/filter pack on the FFR drops the voltage from 24v to 10v. I'll have a chat to some of the electronics engineers at work for advice on making up a new pack to drop to 12v. There seems to be some temperature compensation going on in there so I will probably incorporate a ballast resistor with temperature compensation in part of the circuit.

Think I'll start a thread in the blog section as this could turn into a saga.

Yes there are essentially two elements to the ballast resistor. I have done some experiments of the performance of them on here:
http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?53479-Bright-Sparks-Latest-Update

Thanks for that Clive. That's an impressive piece of research you've done there.