Message text written by "David Brister"
>I would seven times endorse what learned listers have said about the
>desirability of carrying a spare rotor arm.
Last summer a gentleman from Chicago went through three rotors in one day
on his trip to the Conclave in Washington DC. The theory I heard was that
the aftermarket rotors had a conductor that is riveted onto the plastic
body and the rivet, which is an interference fit) causes the plastic
(bakelite) to crack and once this crack propogates through to the center
there is now a new path for the coil current directly to the distributor
shaft. OE rotors have the conductor molded into place.
>In the last few years I have three times experienced the sudden and total
>failure of a rotor arm. The first time it happens it's not easy to
diagnose.
>Best way is to take the distributor cap off, unplug the HT wire from the
top
>of the coil, take a screwdriver from earth to the top of the coil and
flick
>the points apart woth the other hand. A great big spark from the
screwdriver
>to the coil means another rotor head has bitten the dust and shorted to
>earth via the rotor shaft.
I had one fail on the TR8 about a holf mile from the house. Since I had
the wife along I didn't even have to pop the cap. I had spark on the coil
lead but not on the plug lead. Walked home and got the old rotor and was
back on the road again (45 minutes later).
Dave
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