35D8 vacuum advance canister

Labeline

Labeline

New Member
My vacuum advance canister is shot on my Lucas 35D8 distributor and needs replacing. I was hoping to buy a replacement outright so that the downtime was minimal but the Distributor Doctor wants the old one first before he will supply a refurbished one. As its January I am prepared to do that. How easy is it to remove the old one? I see two retaining screws holding it to the distributor body but what is the connection inside? I have looked for a schematic but can't find one. Can anyone tell me how to do it or steer me towards a thread. Thanks in advance. Paul
 
It depends on which type of baseplate you have. The easiest type has the end of the rod from the vac unit held to the baseplate by a pin on the bottom of the points. Remove the points, undo the 2 screws and remove the vac unit. The other type needs the baseplate to be undone from the distributor body, and then the two parts of the baseplate need to be moved relative to one another to free the rod.
 
harveyp6 said:
It depends on which type of baseplate you have. The easiest type has the end of the rod from the vac unit held to the baseplate by a pin on the bottom of the points. Remove the points, undo the 2 screws and remove the vac unit. The other type needs the baseplate to be undone from the distributor body, and then the two parts of the baseplate need to be moved relative to one another to free the rod.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall my points have a pin underneath them. I wondered what it was there for! I will take them off and see what happens. Thanks for the prompt reply.
 
I found the D.D. most unhelpful when I asked about a replacement unit. He quoted for a change-over and when I explained that change-over from Australia was not practical, and how much without change over, the e-mail back was very simple "Add 100 pounds"

I hunted around and found 'British Vacuum Units' in the USA. They manufacture new units, they are not 'reconditioned' ones. They went to great trouble to make sure that they supplied the correct unit to suit my engine, as the car had been fitted with a different distributor from original.

I have no connection with the company other than as a satisfied customer. I strongly recommend the firm.
 
That is a shame. I am currently waiting for a reply asking for the full cost. Postage costs charged by some of the people we deal with are excessive but living abroad we have to pay them. I guess the stock,of units is limited if he is rebuilding them then not getting an exchange unit in return makes life difficult.
 
I've never had anything but good service from Martin (Distributor Doctor), but I wasn't aware he's now having to supply refurbished capsules.

I know simonbbc sells pattern V8 capsules quite cheaply, but I'm not sure of the spec.....might be worth asking?

http://www.simonbbc.com/ignition-spares/lucas-35d-distributor-replacement-vacuum-advance-unit

If you remove your capsule from the dizzy, there will be a series of three numbers stamped on the casing. They can be quite difficult to see, but they're there.

First number is where the advance starts (in inches Hg), second is where the advance ends again in in. Hg, and the third is the total distributor maximum advance in degrees (= 2 x spark advance in crankshaft degrees).

There were a number of variations fitted, depending on the Lucas distributor part number. Modern fuels, different octanes, different compression ratios, etc. will all alter the actual advance requirement though.

Good luck,

Stan
 
vaultsman said:
I've never had anything but good service from Martin (Distributor Doctor), but I wasn't aware he's now having to supply refurbished capsules.

I know simonbbc sells pattern V8 capsules quite cheaply, but I'm not sure of the spec.....might be worth asking?

http://www.simonbbc.com/ignition-spares/lucas-35d-distributor-replacement-vacuum-advance-unit

If you remove your capsule from the dizzy, there will be a series of three numbers stamped on the casing. They can be quite difficult to see, but they're there.

First number is where the advance starts (in inches Hg), second is where the advance ends again in in. Hg, and the third is the total distributor maximum advance in degrees (= 2 x spark advance in crankshaft degrees).

There were a number of variations fitted, depending on the Lucas distributor part number. Modern fuels, different octanes, different compression ratios, etc. will all alter the actual advance requirement though.

Good luck,

Stan
Click to expand...

It was a doddle to get off as the distributor is a later 73 model. The screws came out surprisingly easily and I didn't drop them...which is a bonus. I then popped off the points and out it came. I should imagine getting it back in may be a tad harder. The canister was covered in paint so I couldn't see the numbers but I sent a photo and sent the unit off to the Uk. When I looked at the photo I could see numbers on the case which you couldn't see before so at least they are there. I just need to wait to get it back now and set the whole lot up again!,
 
bought a vacuum unit from DD but can't seem to get it to have any effect. a check with vacuum pump/gauge showed very high vacuum need ( in excess of what my car and i suspect most others-can supply) so refitted on vacuum that i know is faulty ( it will at least advance when vacuum applied but drop off v quickly as is holed diaphragm ) so current lost in depths of my garage gathering dust? ( or is that rust?)
luckily have been to NEC show for class cars and spend a shed load on a replacement dizzy complete with vacuum unit. won't be fitting until summer ( long story) so hopefully may start to get a bit of get up and go in the old girl instead of having to race milk floats. anyway good luck anybody working on their own dizzy . I did at least upgrade to electronic ignition.
 
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