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MG TD TF 1500 - MG TD Distributor Qestion

I am working on a 1953 mg td, the distributor rotor turns almost a quarter of a turn when it is rotated by hand. There seems to be three detents felt as the rotor and distributor shaft is moved. The rotor is properly mounted on the distributor shaft. Is this normal? And if it is, where should the rotor be set for the engine to fire properly? The car in question has not run for many years, but it was running when it was put away 15-20 years ago. Please pardon my ignorance on the MG; I do not have much experience with it!! Thanks.
Dave
D Brigham

What you are likely experiencing is the advancer. When you twist the rotor you are working against the advance mechanism. You should pull that plate off and check your advancer. If you feel notchiness you could have dried grease on the weights or just plain worn out.
l rutt

Hi Dave. Welcome aboard. You've come to the right place. There's a bunch of folks on here that can give you good, sound advise and information. That springiness is just as l rutt said, the advance mechanism. Not being trite, but there is no one place where the rotor should be set. The entire distributor can be lifted up, rotated and set back down with a different set of gears meshing. The 'proper' setting is one that allows the rotor to be pointing at the lead for plug #1 when the crankshaft pulley notch is just coming in line with the timing pointer.

Dave, what sort of manuals do you have available to you? Where in Mass. are you? I'm in Plymouth. Feel free to give me a call at 508-746-6735. Bud Krueger
Bud Krueger (TD10855)

Dave,

Bud has it right on. Here's a photo showing wires and cap arrangement. Next photo shows rotor position pointing at plug 1 when I had the crank pulley notch aligned with pointer.

Dave

Dave Runnings

Dave,

Here's photo 2.

Dave



Dave Runnings

Dave - measure the rotation of the rotor again - it should never move "almost a quarter turn." If it turns that much you have a distributor that needs attention by Jeff Schlemmer at Advance Distributors.

You very much need to get the New England MG T Register's T-series Handbook, which is the best guide to a world of information on T-series cars. It will walk you through a careful tune-up including the distributor cleaning and re-assembly, although there are holes in it still (no info, as I remember, on making sure the distributor cam is put back right - 180 out and the car will not run)!

Chances are good that if the car ran 15 years ago it will run again without too much problem, perhaps not perfectly, but enough to get you excited again.

Ask questions - everyone here is helpful, and there are no stupid questions (that being said, look in the archives before you ask, because the answer might be easy to find there).

Tom
t lange

Nice shots Dave. Remember the plug wires and distributor body may be in totally different location/orientation on other cars. I see your LT connection is in perfect position to short out on the tach drive! Not a bad idea to at least put a rubber boot on it. George
George Butz

Dave, With regard to Bud's statement about the proper position for the rotor, make sure that the rotor is pointing to the number one ignition wire on the distributor cap when the pointer on the timing cover is at the notch on the cranksaft pulley on the "compression stroke" not the exhaust stroke or you will be out 180 degrees. Cheers Phil
Phil Atrill

Dave Brigham, Dave Runnings, and now Dave DuBois - It's like some kind of a family reunion on here ;-) Cheers!
David DuBois

hUMMMM,,, Three Dave's,,,, not waiting,,,
Steve Wincze

What's the hole in the breather pipe for? My TF doesn't have one. PJ



P S Jennings

Pj,

#1- I have never seen a hole like that in a breather pipe, and cannot think of what use it could be.

#2- I have a suggestion to make regarding your distributor orientation. If you were to reset the flat section of your dizzy, to face forward, the high tension connection would be completely out of the way of the the tach. gear box and could not be shorted out as could happen with it's present location. This can save a lot of problems for you.

George
George Raham [TD4224]

The rotor should point at the firing cylinder when the rotor is rotated fully clockwise (as seen from the top) against its stops as the distributor rotates anti-clockwise. I agree that a quarter turn is too much advance movement. Either the rotor is worn, the shaft is worn, or the advance is worn (misassembled).

I personally favor number 1 on the distributor located as it is in Dave's photos. The cap clamps are easier to access that way. An easier fix than rotating and retiming the distributor while keepting the cap clamps accessible is to add enough shim inside the tach reduction gearbox connection to the generator to take up the slack in the threaded mount and to hold the tach reduction gearbox in a single position. I did this with a nylon washer and the tach reduction gearbox has never budged in 13,000 miles since restoration.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

This thread was discussed between 08/10/2010 and 10/10/2010

MG TD TF 1500 index

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