Thread: What have I done! IIa sitting out front.

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

The new engine came with an electronic dizzy.
Now my current Ducellier dizzy only seems to have 2 connections to the coil - the high tension lead and a thin wire (lo-tension?)from a +ve terminal on the coil. I'm presuming the dizzy grounds through connection to the block.

The new dizzy has 3 leads - hi-tension, a red wire (lo-tension?) and a black wire - do I just connect as before but run the black wire back to the -ve terminal on the coil?

There also a wire connected to the -ve spade on the coil at the moment. I've tried to trace it but it just disappears into the loom, any ideas what that might be?

Finally do I need a certain type of coil for electronic distributors?
Its got an Echlin GX80 atm, with 'No external resistor required' written on it

Is my coil currently wired incorrectly?
In every negatively earthed system I've seen on the web, the ignition feed is wired to the +ve terminal on the coil, and then the -ve terminal has the wire to the dizzy.
On mine - the ignition feed is connected to the -ve and the dizzy wire to the +ve.
It works fine, so does it matter which way a coil is connected as long as its consistent?

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

It works fine, so does it matter which way a coil is connected as long as its consistent?

To answer my own question above.
Yes it does matter as it reverses the polarity of the spark ( the spark arcs TO the centre electrode, instead of FROM) and reduces the effectiveness of coil by about 15%. This will only show itself up as the coil reaches the upper limits of its design, in a 2.25 that only runs to 4300rpm you may never notice.
However you should notice the spark plug ground wire getting shorter

Ignition coil polarity

I will be sorting out the polarity before fitting my new dizzy.

I'm writing this brain dump here, so when I refurb my engine and try to refit it I have some idea of how this alternator is connected.

My current alternator wiring appears to be a bit of a bodge.
A 15AC alternator requires 3 wires, B+, DF, IND
B+ to the battery (or battery side of the starter solenoid)
DF to the voltage regulator
IND to the INDicator light




I have 4 .
#1. The one from the voltage regulator (the purple wire to the left), joins with one (#2)of the two wires coming out of the black conduit, they then enter the plastic housing (near 15AC 12V writing) and it looks like the wire loops round to attach to the IND diode plate (far right inside the plastic housing).
#3. The brown wire with the yellow spade cover attaches to the B+ terminal ( and is the other wire from the conduit )
#4. The black wire in the centre (seems to come off a terminal on one of the brushes) - I'm thinking this must be the DF and this should link up with the voltage regulator at some point

Wires #2,#3,#4 all disappear into the wiring loom never to be seen again.

OK what of the 14AC - this has an internal regulator and only needs the IND and B+ terminals (ie the 2 wires in the black conduit #2, #3).
So if I fit those, turn the ignition and the charge light comes on - it should be good.

Another post answering my own questions

The EGR/PCV should be connected before the carb, connecting afterwards can upset the air/fuel ratios.
Bill's inlet hose doesn't have the fitting to attach this, so I think I might just rig up some sort of catch can and pipe to the there.
The brake servo will connect back to the manifold port.

More progress

Engine out:


An oily, sludgy mess on the cross member, but no rust


Blurry shot of the engine bay - it'll need a bit of cleaning and I might as well paint the chassis whilst I'm in there


Awaiting rebuild

Well progress is slower this week, as it seems to consist of cleaning the engine bay. Since I've got the engine out I might as well take the time to give it a bit of a spring clean.
Its amazing how baked on mud can get I've got black panels that turn out to be green, and chassis rails with a solid coating of dirt that needs a wire brush and scraper to get off.
And then areas where there have been oil leaks with a gooey coating of oily twigs, feathers and who knows what.
Good news is that it all looks in pretty good condition underneath it all, but it going to take another while before its anywhere near painting.
I'm almost considering re-wiring.

Almost. But no. All the wiring works and its an extra expense to add the list of Landie related expenses that seem to blowing out my budget

Anyway some progress elsewhere

Swapped the S3 plate for a new AP 2a 9.5" pressure plate

Looked at the top hat release plate for the clutch and its pretty scored, and since I was planning to replace the thrust bearing, I thought I might as well replace this, so I'm awaiting delivery of that and a gasket set. It should give me the chance to sort out why my slave clutch linkage hits the grease nipple on the front propshaft as well.


Scored 'tophat'

but the splines look OK

OK, painted the rear of the bulkhead, the chassis from front back to, and including, the gearbox x-member, and the battery tray and airfilter seat with POR-15





I didn't take the chasis back to bare metal, I wire brushed it, degreased it, painted it with Metal Ready to etch , degreased it again as i wasn't happy, then anything that was still there was judged to be of sufficient quality that it wasn't going to peel off, so it got painted over.
Not the best finish in the world, but its a chassis not the Mona Lisa

Whilst I had the paint tin open I did the rest of the bulkhead in the 'cockpit'


Gearbox bellhousing cover


Blending in that horrible aluminium plate

I should degrease the gearbox whilst its all accessible.
When I finally roll Bill back outside the garage floor is going to need a REALLY good scrub!

Its cleaning time!



You could eat your dinner off it!

And added some new wing mirrors and new wipers. Hopefully they'll wipe rather than smear





Wipers look at bit modern for the arm but hopefully a bit of paint will blend the arm in til I get round to finding a proper wiper motor and associated bits.