During the Route 66 Classic run my distributor decided that it had had enough. Fortunately Warren ("Worn") had a spare distributor, which Leamon and some others replaced in the hotel parking lot. The car is running fine. Now I owe Warren a new distributor.

My car is a '73 with FI and points. The distributor from Warren is from a 2.0

I found the chart below on Pelican. Mine (the old one) is 022-905-205 Q. It isn't on the list. From another web site, I guess that 022905205F is the new number for this part?

Some questions:

1) I'm not sure what distributor number I have from Warren. Were there more than one used in 2.0 cars?

2) The advance/retard characteristics are somewhat different amongst the various distributors. Does it matter if I leave in the one from the 2.0?

3) I want to replace the points with a Pertronix electronic ignition. I can't find the part on their web site (the search function just shows "no records found" for the distributor numbers). Do you guys have a suggestion as to which one?

4) If I leave the "incorrect" distributor in the car but replace the points with an electronic ignition, will it matter which distributor I have?

5) Do I need a new coil too?

6) Are there any other things I need to consider before swapping out the points?

Thanks in advance! (or is that in retard?)

You forgot to say they replaced it in the RAIN......

The Q part number is a different version than the F one. The advance curve is likely slightly different, and the vacuum advance curve might also be.

There's a reasonable chance that the differences won't be noticeable to the driver.

Any of the standard Pertronix that fit any stock 914 distributor (with vacuum advance) will work. You should not need a different coil or different parts.

--DD

Did my rain dance, and it was clear during the replacement!

Thanks, Dave. So, do you think it's OK to just leave the 2.0 distributor in it?

The Pertronix tool that shows which unit for your distributor needs the part number that starts with 0-231-xxx-xxx. It also needs it in that format, with the dashes in between the sets of numbers. Although I just checked and it didn't list anything for 0-231-174-007.

I believe most Bosch distributors use Pertronix 1847V (or some variant of 1847). But I disagree that 1847V fits on all our 914 distributors. The 1847V (Ignitor I) doesn't fit well on a 1.8L distributor. The magnet just doesn't want to sit far enough down the shaft for the rotor to then properly seat on the shaft. You can try to pound the Pertronix magnet further down the shaft, but the chances of breaking the magnet go up exponentially with each blow of the hammer...ask me how I know. My guess is that the 1847V probably fits your distributor, but they either weren't sure that it would fit because of the trigger points (although I'm not sure it would interfere with that) or they just don't realize that distributor exists or they know it exists but just haven't gotten around to ensuring that their part fits that distributor.

They have a 'contact us' e-mail address, shoot 'em a line and ask. Couldn't hurt.

I would always use a coil of the correct impedance for the Pertronix kit used ,I ran ignitor 1 with a german bosch blue coil with no issues,apparently these now are a crapshoot on quality and that is an issue.
The advance shouldn't matter too much as it is early in the engine speed,however the dizzy needs to be otherwise healthy condition,for instance free moving on the advance plate and the lower centrifical (?) side working well.
Most disconnect the retard side of the vacuum pot as far as I remember,please correct me if wrong as they may impact on emissions testing.
Yep the magnetic shaft pickup is a bitch to fit ,I found there are casting flashes on the inside I cleared them with a craft knife and went a bit easier.

OK, thanks. So, I get the impression that I can keep the 2.0 distributor in my car (a 1.7) and add the Pertronix electronic ignition to it?

There's a local guy that PM'd me that he has a 2.0 distributor, so I can buy that one and mail it to Warren.

Yes should be fine,by the way if you go pertronix you have several options,Ignitor 1 has a reputation for fizzing out if the key is left on ,it hasn't happened to me but has to others on here,Ignitor 2 is more modern development but with only run with a matching coil which has a very low impedance ,you also can't run solid core leads as these will upset the module (according to the instructions).
I fitted Ignitor 2 to my -6 engine and choose Clewitt Engineering leads....very nicely made,pretty certain they make the for the T4 also.
Download their PDF on the net and check part numbers and application,failing that call them they are said to very helpful.