Morelli distributor and cetrifugal advance

[bernhfv]

I am a relatively new 124 spider owner and am learning how to maintain this fair baby.

I noticed it running a little rough so started trouble shooting through the ignition system.

When I opened the distributor up (the cap, rotor and points appear new) I noted that it had a single set of points, but there was a place for a second set and second condensor (also a second point wire) that would seem to operate opposite the existing set. When I went down into the distributor to the centrifugal advance system, the advance return springs were broken and chewed into loose bits.

Some questions:
1) What are the second set of points and condensor for and how important are they?
2) How can i get replacement springs for the centrifugal advance system?
2) Is there a good, not too expensive "bolt on" kit to convert the car to an electronic ignition system that does not need the centrifugal advance system? If so where can I find it?

Thanks in advance...

[chrisfiat]

see the "distribuitor number thread" good info

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13833

[manoa matt]

The dual points are for emissions. One set is used for the warm up phase, after the car is warmed up a thermo switch under the intake manifold switches power to the second set of points. Most owners eliminate the second set of points and power the remaining points directly from the coil. Reasons for this include: simple circuit to diagnose a problem. The thermo switch is near impossible to hookup under the manifold and the wires are usually missing or incorrectly routed. A change over relay also complicates the system.

They don't make replacement springs for these distributors, best bet would be to find some from a donor distributor of the same model number, or you can buy springs at your local auto parts store. They will come with 6 springs of 3 different rates. It will be try it and see, but to achieve a good result you will need to know the advance curve of the original distributor and use a timing light and marks on the front crank pulley to correlate results from combinations of the new springs.

There are kits out there to convert the distributor to electronic. Petronix makes a simple kit, and Crane Cams/Allison makes a kit too. However both kits will require the centrifugal springs and weights to be working.

The 79 and later cars used an electronic breaker-less ignition system that can be installed on the early cars. Either pick up the distributor and coil from another forum member thats parting out a car, or you can buy the components new/re manufactured for around $200.

In the past few years a several after market ignition systems have been developed for our cars. 123 ignitions makes a distributor, our moderator SoCal Mark sells a neat system, and there are even more advanced programmable systems available for the serious tinkerer.

[baltobernie]

Matt's reply covers about all of it. Before you go any further, run your finger under the base of the distributor, when the engine is cold and Off. There are a couple of weep hole that allow excess oil to drain out. These drip on a hot exhaust manifold, causing smoke and odor. There's a replaceable seal to cure this. In addition to salvage, aftermarket and electronic Marelli systems, another option is to have your existing dizzy rebuilt and converted to Pertronix. I used http://www.advanceddistributors.com/; charge was $200. Besides cleaning and polishing everything, he also recurved the distributor for better performance.