There’s a lot more to a distributor than just its points, condenser, rotor arm and cap, as we discovered when we spent a day with H&H Ignition Solutions of Dudley in the West Midlands. Watching them stripping and rebuilding a number of Lucas distributors (commonly found on many 1950s and 1960s classic Fords), we found out the importance of bob weights, advance curves and the vacuum unit.
The team at H&H Ignition Solutions ran distributor assembly lines in a much larger production set-up, then decided to divert their experience to the classic and sports car market. Consequently, they’ve seen plenty of problems and know how to resolve them
Typical distributor-related problems are often foundbeen the cause of distributor-related problems. H&H have inspected several rotor arms and found their poor-quality construction results in the spark arcing through to the shaft. They have also found batches of condensers that fail and points that prematurely wear out. Consequently, they have always used a reputable source for serviceable items and are sticking with them.
