How much Lucas stuff have I rebuilt? Probably more than you and more than
most. I have been a line tech at a British car dealership, and have been a
tech at independent shops that did nothing but foreign cars back when
foreign really was foreign. I am talking the late 60 and early 70s here. I
also managed a large foreign car parts house in the early 80s where I sold
Lucas over the counter to both shops and individuals.
I have rebuilt dozens if not maybe more than a hundred Lucas generators and
starters. And when I say rebuilt, I mean rebuilt. Test the armature on a
growler, turn and undercut the commutator, new brushes, rear bushes. In
fact I used to keep my supply of bronze bushing in my pump oil can so they
would be oiled and ready when the next bad generator came in. I have also
opened the hood on a car and watched as the smoke was let out of the
generator as its soul went to heaven. Oh and those items I rebuilt were not
on cars from the 1920s and 30s, so I can tell you that lots of Lucas stuff
never made it to anywhere near 50 years. A two or three year life span was
much more common than a 50 year span.
Done a distributor or three also.
So to answer your question, yeah I have rebuilt them, and my comments about
Lucas quality are only about 1/2 tongue in cheek. Compared to other brands
of electrical equipment of the same vintage, Lucas quality was sorely
lacking. Bosch, Delco-Remy all kicked Lucas' ass in quality. In my
experience only Maggot Marelli makes Lucas look good. Compare Lucas to
Bosch or Delco and Lucas comes in second in quality. A distant second.
It isn't all bad though, I am indebted to Lucas for one thing. By serving
as an apprentice to the dark lord, I became a very, very good electrical
diagnostician. So good that I became an instructor in the automotive
industry. It was the blood, sweat and tears that the dark lord forced me to
shed that made me the tech that I am today.
If you choose to run points, then may lord Lucas bless you and keep you
safe. However don't pretend for an instant that from a performance
standpoint that points are superior to an electronic system, they just
aren't. With an electronic system the dwell never changes, and the timing
is always right where you set it. This is not a true statement for points
and condenser systems. Don't get me wrong, I love to set points and timing,
but I am under no illusion that from a performance point that they are
superior to a properly installed electronic system.
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