NEED HELP BAD! Distributor woes.. I'm dying here!, I bet this hasn't come up yet... Options

[ninefourteener]

Greetings!!

Been awhile since I've logged in.... but no one can help me. The 914 has been sitting for so long, untouched, I ran into a problem, and no parts store in town can help. Not even my mechanic can help (and he's good).

The 914 has been running rough for nearly a year.. I've put it up for sale and after repeated attempts at tuning up my solexes, it still runs like crap. Finally, I break down and take it to some 90 year old man that specializes in old european cars (and carbs)....... It took him 5 minutes to figure out the problem.

When I changed the cap, rotor and plugs nearly a year ago.... I bought the "standard" tune-up set from Bosch.. the same one that fits every porsche 914, 912, and VW in the 70s.

I just found out today.... that my car has an aftermarket high-performance distributor.

There are no markings on it. No numbers, no brand... nothing.

The way he knew it was a high performace dist was the fact that it doesn't have a vacuum advance.

The cap looks the same, except on the underside, there's a "slot" that lines up exactly in the same place as one of the exterior clips.

However... that cap that I NEED has the "slot" at about the 10 o'clock position from the exterior clip. Basically, my car has been running with the timing advanced about 30 degrees... My mechanic couldn't figure out how the hell it ran at all.

Could it be MSD? Mallory? Accel? I have no friggin idea. According to all the parts shops in town... NO ONE makes an aftermarket HP distributor for a 914.

SUPPOSEDLY.... Mallory makes a HP distributor for a Porsche 550..... and according to mallory, it will fit my 914.

That cap is on order... just "because". But it doesn't get here till friday.

In the meantime... I don't even know if I'm headed the right direction with this.... not to mention the fact my car is sitting in some podunk shop in Freeburg Illinois.. waiting on a part that I don't even know if it will work.

H E L P!!!!!!!! Anything? Any advice?? I'm dying here.... SOMEONE out there has to have had this problem before.. no?

Thanks to everyone in advance!!

--Matt

[Jake Raby]

If it's a Mallory I have the cap you need sitting on my shelf.. Rotor as well..

No big deal. I use them daily.

[TravisNeff]

Most probably a bosch 009 or an 050. You should see a bosch emblem stamped on the distributor. The 009's had orange caps (or any color under the sun), 050's had black cap. Both were non vacuum units

[ninefourteener]

Most probably a bosch 009 or an 050. You should see a bosch emblem stamped on the distributor. The 009's had orange caps (or any color under the sun), 050's had black cap. Both were non vacuum units

I feel so stupid because I don't even remember what color the cap was... and of course.. I threw it away a year ago.

So is the "009" and "050" cap numbers, or distributor numbers?

Can you get those at a regular parts store?

Nothing is stamped on the distributor at all.

[ninefourteener]

If it's a Mallory I have the cap you need sitting on my shelf.. Rotor as well..

No big deal. I use them daily.

On the Mallory Caps.... are the slot on the underside in the exact same location as the exterior clip hold-downs...........

Or is it off-set at about the 10 oclock position??

[TravisNeff]

Bosch caps for our cars have the notch for the slot in the distributor. I would wager a guess that it is a 009. BTW the 009 and 050 are the distributor part number, well the last 3 digits at least. It should be stamped on the distributor. If you go to a VW bug shop you will find caps & rotors for those.

[Cap'n Krusty]

Uhhhh, why don't you just set the timing?

That said, every Bosch distributor has a part number stamped on it. If yours is aluminum, it'll be a 10 digit number, probably ending in "009", "050", or "031"
("X XXX XXX XXX"). The "050" takes a different cap, and it's black, as well as a different rotor. The Bosch caps for the others are nearly always a reddish brown.
It'll be on the side somewhere. All take the same points. Tell me the part number and I'll tell you the numbers of the parts you need.

If it's a cast iron distributor, ther nuimber is on a small plate riveted to the side. Cast iron ones are usually black, or unpainted (rust colored), or a light metallic blue. They take 2 piece points, and the cap has a half round cutout on the lip for the plastic point wire insulator.

As for an offset for the notch, I've not seen one that way, and I've seen a LOT of distributor caps in over 45 years of wrenching on German cars.

The Cap'n

[Dr Evil]

It should not matter where the slot is. You can rotate the dizzy to make up for the 10 degrees. It sounds liek you have a garden variety 009 or 050 as mentioned. These are for carbs or L-jet. Neither ar HP, both are common. Without a p/n or some ID or pic we cant tell for sure.

[ninefourteener]

I did some research...... the 009 distributor takes a Bosch 03 010 cap.

I have the 03 010 cap.. it doesn't fit.

I've looked, and I've had the mechanic look... twice. There are NO MARKINGS or any numbering visible on the distributor... at all.

I do know it's an aluminum distributor... in fact, it's quite pretty, almost like a billet aluminum.

I'm about to just order a 009 distributor off ebay for $50... just to get this over with.

[bd1308]

stop. no 009.

stop. no 009.

[TravisNeff]

If you are getting a new distributor, take a good look at a mallory. If you are going to go with an 009 or 050 - get the 050.

If yours looks like billet it may be an MSD, not sure though

[Dr Evil]

While your post is HIGHLY informative, Britt, could you possibly post WHY you do not like the 009? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

ninfourteener,
Contact Jake and have him help you un-f@ck your car. He will recommend the right dizzy and will have it in stock at a good price. Ya gotta ask here before dropping $$ at the mechanics. We can arm you with knowledge so you dont think about selling the car out of frustration. You'll be fine, we are here (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[bd1308]

Ive BTDT. ran hot(independently of FI issues) and lagged. it only advances so much (not exactly sure how much) but in order to get it to advance to 27 degrees, i had to set it at 10.5 degrees at idle, not good.

I bought it because it was cheap, but its sitting on a shelf. what I ended up doing is getting a SVDA from aircooled.net. Its working very well.

[ninefourteener]

Well, the car's already up for sale... Sorry. I need to pay off some bills, and with a new wife, and a new baby on the way, and the WRX taking up all of my hobby time.... the 914 just doesn't seem very practical right now.

Nevertheless, I can't have it running like ass... no one will buy it.

I've got a Mallory cap on order, as well as a GP Sorenson cap... only because they found a "different" part #.. might as well take a look.

I called around... the part $ for the 050 distributor cap doesn't cross-reference anywhere.... so I don't know if thats what I have or not.

Anyone have a good part number for the correct cap, for a 050 dist?

[bd1308]

okay

the rotor+cap on the 050 is different than the other dizzys. What you can do is order the standard cap+rotor and you should be good to go.

I think you have a Mallory or the MSD distributor though, I just have a feeling it isnt a 050 or a 009

[Dr Evil]

Well, the car's already up for sale... Sorry. I need to pay off some bills, and with a new wife, and a new baby on the way, and the WRX taking up all of my hobby time.... the 914 just doesn't seem very practical right now.

Nevertheless, I can't have it running like ass... no one will buy it.

I've got a Mallory cap on order, as well as a GP Sorenson cap... only because they found a "different" part #.. might as well take a look.

I called around... the part $ for the 050 distributor cap doesn't cross-reference anywhere.... so I don't know if thats what I have or not.

Anyone have a good part number for the correct cap, for a 050 dist?

Sorry to hear you have to sell, but you have good reasons (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I am sure you will get it figure out and have it ready to get best price.

[ninefourteener]

okay

the rotor+cap on the 050 is different than the other dizzys. What you can do is order the standard cap+rotor and you should be good to go.

I think you have a Mallory or the MSD distributor though, I just have a feeling it isnt a 050 or a 009

Ok.. if the cap and rotor is different on the 050..... Anyone know the correct part # for the cap???? If thats what I've got.. perhaps the local parts stores may have something in stock???

[type47fan]

Matt,

This may serve no purpose and I did read through this thread quickly, so maybe I missed it, but, can you post a top view picture of the dizzy without the cap?

Thanks,

[ninefourteener]

Matt,

This may serve no purpose and I did read through this thread quickly, so maybe I missed it, but, can you post a top view picture of the dizzy without the cap?

Thanks,

Wish I could... the car is at a garage about 20 miles away.

Its really confusing... the original rotor is still on there, because the "standard" rotor I bought a year ago wouldn't fit right... so I reused the rotor.

But the new "standard" cap fit right on.... or at least I thought. The ONLY difference between the standard cap that every other 914 out there is using.. and the cap I need......... is that tiny little slot on the underside.

I'm gonna take a drive over there tomorrow afternoon though... I'll snap a couple pics.. hopefully that'll help.

[ninefourteener]

Just a side note.... I found the MSD distributor online.

Its the only one they make for a VW or Porsche (Its for the Type 1s).

http://www.msdignition.com/dist_41.htm

This is definately NOT what I have.... mine has the clips on the side like the factory.... I think i can rule out MSD