Junior developed a points / condensor problem

[karlssondesign]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6...12dfafe230.jpg
alfa gt 1300 junior , with condensor or points problem. by jamie and the magic torch, on Flickr

Poor old junior developed a points / condensor problem today. RAC guy tried for an hour. but couldnt fix it.

Problem is I just recently spent £280 getting the car set up properly - now I'll need to get new points & condensor fitted, & get the advance & points gap all set up again. Should I take it back to the rolling road guy who did it, or do you think my local oldschool garage can sort this without the need for the rolling road ?

[harryf]

An old school garage can probably do it, but the Rolling road guy will probably do a better job. Not sure of the nature of your issue but I got fed up having to gap the points so frequently so last time they needed replacing replaced with the Pertronix kit which I think only cost £80, gives better starting and a bit more meaty midrange and should hold tune much, much longer.

If you're feeling really flush or your dizzy needs replacing the latest programmable 123 distributors are used a lot.

[Chris141058]

Having had problems with the points in my Marelli distributor which meant removing the advance mechanism to get at the points I decided to switch to 1 2 3 electronic ignition.
I am very pleased with the results - it still looks authentic but the ignition is now much more reliable.
Chriis

[Erik Loye]

I fitted an Ingitor breaker and condenser less kit on my 1750 3 years ago. About £ 75. It took less than an hour. Drove the engine hot, loosened the clamp and fettled the distributor to the fasted idle, fastened the clamp an adjusted idle speed and haven't touched it since. After two days I weakened the idle mixture screws one or two clicks each, not touched that since, either. With the points I had to adjust gab and mixture every second month.
The engine never pinks and fuel consumption is about 31 MPG
Erik

[karlssondesign]

it was the dizzy arm, after replacing the points and condensor it was the next new bit to try. all sorted. just need to take it for a run to check the points gap set right.

[arguti]

It seems nowadays that a lot of repro parts like distributor caps, arms, etc are often dud from new. Nice to hear it was nothing more serious but moving to electronic ignition will probably be easier long term.