Could someone please confirm what the correct installed position of the dissy drive is at TDC with 1 on comp stroke.

Two manuals I have seem to contradict one another.

The Leyland manual (black book) says that the illustration (shown below) is the position you need prior to inserting and rotating the drive.



It says to hold the spindle in position shown in Fig A.8 and enter the gear.

The SP manual shows the same illustrated position but states it shows the installed position.

Or perhaps someone could confirm approx where the rotor arm should be pointing at TDC (comp on 1). Mine seems to be at about 1 o'clock.

The reason I ask is that I suspect my dissy is wrongly oriented. Last time I bought a set of leads that were custom length for a mini they were all over the shop.

Cheers

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

That pic is the way it should point when installed, AFTER you have rotated the engine 1 full turn from lining the timing dots up.
If you don't turn it 1 turn, the dizzy will be 180° out.
Manuals do not mention this.
It is a glitch in all the workshop manuals, because they all just copied the BMC original (which was wrong).

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Rotor should be pointing at (roughly) 1-oclock with engine at TDC 9firing stroke on Number 1 cyl)

that means the # 1 piston is at the top,,, the timing marks on the flywheel should have the pointer at the 1/4 mark,,, & the valves on number one cyl should both have clearance,,, & the valves on #4 cyl should be "on the rock" (one is half open & the other is half closed)

that`s it,,, many things there for you to absolutley make sure you have it set-up correctly, so you really can`t stuff it up hey?

Now,,, in saying all that,,, sometimes i`ve seen dizzys have been ripped apart for re-newal/reco/clean-ups etc & they have been put back together one-eighty (180deg) out, so even tho the engine could have been set-up correctly,,, once "that" dizzy goes back in the hole you are now 180 out

get it?

Some people do`nt realise that there are 2x shafts inside the dizzy & once ripped apart they can be set back up 180deg out

Not saying that yours is that way,,, just saying that it can be a catch for the un-initiated

Soooo,,,, whether your "Drive" shaft is set-up right or not,,, you may still have trouble with the rotor pointing the right way (or not) once the dizzy is fitted & this may well be the reason

Got it???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I'm going to print this thread out and staple it into my manual. Every engine I've assembled has come out with the distributor 180° out!

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Yes thanks Guys. Matt thanks for that I double checked and made sure I am at TDC with 1 all closed and 4 "on the rock".

Ok here is a pic of my spindle (hard to tell but the large offset is to the left).



So comparing with the manual's illustration it seems my drive is anti clockwise to where it should be.

Could that mean it has been installed 1 tooth out?

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Yes it is but as long as dizzy body is anticlockwise by the same amount it's no biggie.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

what's a distributor drive? I don't think I have one of them....

Ok cheers Doc. I understand it's not a big deal but last time I bought a nice set of leads specifically tailored for mini I had to trim them to make them fit neat.

...and I'd probably be in the same boat with an original dissy and/or lead set, the lengths would be out.

So I basically was trying to figure if it was actually correct or not.

Thanks heaps.

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

If you do feel the need to fix it make sure you don't drop the drive into the gearbox.

Yes, thanks, I know. I need to use a long 5/16 bolt correct?

Do I need to unbolt the distributor housing from the block first before extracting the drive?

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

yes, and yes

the best bolts are the long ones that go through the engine mount thing on the radiator end of the gearbox.... basically you can't use a bolt that's too long for the job, but you can definitely use one that's too short

I'm nearly ready to swap distributors and fix the out of position drive at the same time.

I don't have any spare engine mount bolts so I looked at Bunnings but they only have long 5/16 bolts in UNC not UNF. I assume I would need a UNF one.

Any suggestions where to find a suitable bolt?.

Cheers

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

You could just make sure 1 of the engine mount bracket bolts are tight and take the other one out.

I'm pretty sure they are the only suitable bolts you will find on the whole car

You can also use the 5/16" rocker studs (the long end ones).

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

hydrolastic top tower bolts

or go to a bolt shop, or weld a bit of rod on to a short bolt

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?