Electronic Ignition Distributor Install

The following information was collected from the BlueBirds E-Mail list. I've tried to include the name and a bit of relevant information about the author of each quote. Please keep in mind that what follows may or may not work depending on your unique situation.

It's just out of time, Sean.  SOME of the breakerless dizzys bolt right in exactly where the points dizzy came out.  Most of them are off about 1 tooth on the dizzy drive spindle.

Set the engine at TDC. This is the point where BOTH of the cam lobes are angled up. Not one straight up.  Both valves will be shut and you will be able to feel play in the rocker arms. All this tells you is that you're setting the timing to cylinder #1 instead of #4. The you should set your crank pulley to about 10° BTDC. That'll be two notchs (5° per notch) away from the big notch on the pulley, assuming you still have the stock notched pulley and sheetmetal pointer on your car. (L16, right?)

With the cap off the dizzy, twist it around until all four points on the center "star" are lined up with the four points on the outer "ring". (I know these have names, but it's late and I don't wanna think that hard) Hold the cap up to the dizzy and see if the rotor is pointed anywhere NEAR the #1 terminal (should have a line on the side of the cap denoting #1)

I'm betting it isn't. If it's not (assuming you didn't take the bet, you owe me nothing, otherwise, you have to wash my car) you'll have to climb under the car, drop the oil pump and spindle and put the spindle and pump back in with the spindle moved one tooth. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Or is that EASIER than it sounds? Either way, it'll take you a while to get it all figured out but it's the only way to do it. Take a good look at where the dizzy end of the spindle is now (think of it as hands on a clock) and decided which way you have to move it. Drop the pump and spindle, turn the spindle (while keeping it in the pump) and put the whole mess (yeah, it's a little messy) back up and secure it with one bolt. Check the rotor angle again (bet you didn't get it right the first time) and do it again until the rotor is pointing at the #1 terminal. Then install and tighten all the pump bolts and wipe your hands.

If the engine is set at 10° BTDC and the rotor is pointing at #1 and the wires are in the right order (1-3-4-2, CCW) the car should fire. Oh, assuming you've got the coil (-) going to the "C" terminal and the coil (+) going to the "B" terminal on the black box.

Later, Kelvin Dietz


I ran across an EI distributor at a local JY on Fri. Grabbed it and a pair of 200sx struts for $30! The distributor has the correct slotted drive in the bottom of it and is really tight. I called Nissan, it's part # 22100-N8502, they want $780 for it, plus it's on the list to being NLA. Napa has the same part, # 48-612 for $125, rebuilt. It originally came in a 79-80 200sx with a Z20e and the federal emission package. All in all, I'm happy with my find. I hope this info can help someone.

Jesse Davis