[howndog]

Hello my fellow Alfisti.
I am thinking of replacing the distributor in my Spider. I believe that the weights in the original points dizzy are sticking. I had a strobe on the car last night and the marks on the crank pulley were erratic. My question is should I replace the points,capacitor etc or put in an electro-dizzy? Who has done this and what dizzy did you use? IAP has the HML for $299,and Centerline has one at $296. Also I have heard good things about the 123, although am not sure who has it.I have a 1750-stock,Bosch blue coil, with twin DHLA40's, that run very rich(i have the set screws at 7.5 turns out!).I am not sure the problem is related but I have ordered 60 size idle jets from Dellorto Uk.

Any advice?

 

[101/105guy]

I had the same problem on my '67 GTV with its original Bosch dizzy....
Worn out !
Just picked up a new RML points type unit on ebay for $70 and it works great.
No need to spend hundreds of $$ for the electronic units. All 5 of my Alfas have points and they work fine.
Randy

 

[Andrew]

I personally have found the 1750/2000 distributors seem to last better than Bosch. Not sure why.
With electronic, you'll get a smoother, even idle, and not have to worry about points, just about the electronic unit crapping out, which is rare. I have Marelliplex on my track cars, generally run points on street cars and never really have had issues in 35 years.
Andrew

 

[Andrew]

I meant to say "the Marelli 1750/2000 distributurs" seem to last better.
Andrew

 

[101/105guy]

I always hear about people worrying about their points.....
They work....
no need to worry about them.
If the dizzy is worn out, by all means get it fixed. But no need to spend $300-$400.

 

[howndog]

Thanks for the responses. While I tend to agree that a points system can be adequate, it definitely leaves room for improvement. i am not sure how or if the weights for the advance can be replaced. I cannot seem to get the timing set at idle or 5000(M) rpm as the pointer seems to move after adjustment. Is this not the weights? I was hoping that a electronic set up would eliminate erratic idle, and improve fuel economy and throttle response. Am I incorrect? The actual points themselves seem to be okay, but I honestly wouldn't be opposed to the peace of mind of E.I system. Can someone weigh in who has substituted a Marelli with the E.I unit? Is it worth it or are Andrew and 105 guy speaking the truth(not that I don't believe you guys-)....I don't mind to spend the money as long as it really is worth it, or else rebelling the Marelli is definitely more cost effective.
What says the E.I crowd? IAP ,123,Centerline or MArelliplex? and why?

 

[howndog]

I personally have found the 1750/2000 distributors seem to last better than Bosch. Not sure why.
With electronic, you'll get a smoother, even idle, and not have to worry about points, just about the electronic unit crapping out, which is rare. I have Marelliplex on my track cars, generally run points on street cars and never really have had issues in 35 years.
Andrew

Why electronic for the track and points for the street? My concern is not so much for the points themselves but the advance system.

 

[101/105guy]

My point ( Ha ! ) was that your problem is not the points !
Sounds like you have a worn dizzy. Shaft bearing, advance plate and springs gone.....
A new dist. will solve this.
RML sells a good one and for the street, you don't have to go the extra expense of the electronic model.
For racing, the quest is always for more power and cost is of less importance.
Do you shift at 7,000 rpm regularly?

 

[howndog]

My point ( Ha ! ) was that your problem is not the points !
Sounds like you have a worn dizzy. Shaft bearing, advance plate and springs gone.....
A new dist. will solve this.
RML sells a good one and for the street, you don't have to go the extra expense of the electronic model.
For racing, the quest is always for more power and cost is of less importance.
Do you shift at 7,000 rpm regularly?

I guess I was thinking about the overall performance on the E>I model versus the points. And yes I do shift at 7000 regularly,,hehe

 

[alfaparticle]

My recommendation is to go with the 123ignition distributor. You can buy them from IAP, Highwood Alfa and probably other UK suppliers. I have had two Marelliplex and an RML and the 123 is easily the best. I have posted lots of information on them. It is more expensive than the others but the advance curves are all digital - no springs, balance weights, etc to wear or stick. The curves are accurate and they are described in detail. Try to find the information on an RML advance curve. How do you know if it is right when they don't tell you what it should be.

 

[Steve Ray]

My point ( Ha ! ) was that your problem is not the points !
Sounds like you have a worn dizzy. Shaft bearing, advance plate and springs gone.....
A new dist. will solve this.
RML sells a good one and for the street, you don't have to go the extra expense of the electronic model.
For racing, the quest is always for more power and cost is of less importance.
Do you shift at 7,000 rpm regularly?

Does anyone offer a rebuild kit for these?

 

[jc96]

2 cents here. My 2L Alfetta GTV had a dual point set up from the factory. I swapped it out for a Euro 2L dizzy and ran a Bosch Blue with zero problems over the years. But my idea of an enjoyable time "fiddlin' round" is messing with points - guess it gives me something low threat and "old skool" to do when there is actually nothing at odds in the car. Couldn't see dropping the 4-500 bones for the electronic units.

 

[Forzaguy]

The dual points never really ran as a dual point dizzy, rather one set was used for starting, the other set for running.
The moment you start wit fresh points they start eroding and will need adjustment/replacing eventually.
I have replaced the mechanical points on three Alfas with Bosch distributers using the Pertronix kit with zero failures and perfect performance and it don't cost 4-500 buckeroos and you can do it in your garage.

 

[Gubi]

Yeah, I think the Pertronix electronic ignition kit for my TR7 cost like, what, $120 bucks? It's a solid piece of kit, too.

 

[101/105guy]

Makes sense......
$12 set of points or $120 pertronix....
But if your dist. is worn out you will spend $400 + for the 123 or half of that for a new dist. with points.

 

[Gubi]

Makes sense......
$12 set of points or $120 pertronix....

Hey, I'm not saying it's absolutely the right choice for everyone. Personally, though, if I'm going to keep a car for a long time I'd like to fix something once and never have to deal with it again.

Time is money too, and the less time I need to mess around adjusting, replacing, or filing points the better. The Pertronix is simple, reliable, and consistent in performance.

 

[kcabpilot]

The Alfa is somewhat unique in this area as you will normally completely remove the distributor and take it to the bench for a tune-up. At that time you can replace points, rotor, condenser and cap as well as clean it up and lube the shaft and advance weights. I never file points, just toss them and put in a new set. You can easily go 20-25k miles between tune-ups so it's not something you have to do every weekend.

When I did my restoration I bought an ID405 distributor from Centerline. It's a modified Bosch unit and I just never really liked the way it performed so I put the original Marelli back in and much prefer it. If it were to get worn out or cause trouble I'd possibly look at the 123 from IAP but my feelings are that if the original points distributor is working well there's really no reason to spend that kind of money to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Farace]

There was a fairly impassioned discussion on points vs. electronic ignition last fall. You might want to read through that thread, there was a lot of interesting info. I don't know that anybody's minds were changed.

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/engine-management/170207-electronic-ignition-points.html

 

[alfazagato]

I have 123s on all my cars....wonderful!

 

[101/105guy]

Man, that's $2500 just in distributors .....
I've bought nice Alfas for less ;^)