Getting to know my "new to me" 1975 308 gt4, and sorting out all the bits... It has what looks to be a single distributor, single coil mod, using MSD electronic ignition. I am trying to locate a cap & rotor, but I can't find any information. The distributor is a Magic Marvel S159B. Has anyone any knowledge of this unit? Thanks!
Interesting, never heard of this one. S159 is the distributor Marelli number for the dual distributor setup, the single one would have S127G. Could you post a photo or two?
Here is a pic... from your elucidation I think that this is the stock 4 plug dist with an adapter ring to a 8 plug single coil cap. I do not see ant part # on the cap, and I am hesitant to remove the cap before knowing a replacement, as it is running now & if I damage it I am out of action! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Replacement caps are available with some of our site sponsors. Might be a good idea to check the points in there as well, that particular distributor has two sets of them.
Yes, it is a S159 with an adapter ring - nice idea. It also looks like it had a conversion from points to a magnetic (VR) pickup for driving the MSD, makes sense as you need the trigger impulses for both banks. The cap is not a S127G cap as one would assume, as it does not require two coil inputs, but rather a standard single coil eight cylinder cap. Looks a bit like a sixties to seventies Ford eight cylinder cap to me, see attached photo of a Standard FD129 cap. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That definitly looks like a Ford cap. Lucky you if it is as they are easier to find and cheaper to replace compared to the Marelli unit. If you PM me I can send you a good Ford cap to test and compare. Just out of curiosity what coil are you running? I had to go to a Jacobs electonics on my Mustang do to spark scatter at high (6850) RPM.
Be interesting to see how they handled the rotor side of the equation too. Once you go in, move the pick-up a little (I hate seeing distributor housings adjusted all the way to one extreme on the slots)
Good point Steve, I will take a pic of the rotor set up when I pull the cap. PM sent, MNexotics... thanks Coil is an Allison PS-10
Niels, do you have an update? I am curious about the inside of the dist cap and the rotor setup. You might want to exchange the Allison PS-10 coil against a MSD 8202 coil, the PS-10 coil was for a transistor (inductive) ignition and is not compatible with the MSD 6 series.
Well I found out these guys did the mod http://francoseuropean.com/ Anyone know them? I have tried contacting them for info to no avail, but maybe after the holiday...
I was able to confirm (thanks to MNexotics) that it IS a '60s Ford V8 cap & rotor, I replaced it with a Duralast F2100G set (all brass contacts) for $20 and it is working great. It does require a slight mod, filing a small notch to allow the locating pin slot to go a bit further. I changed the coil to an Accel 8140C, approved by MSD. Someone must have made the ring & clamp kit, a nice and simple adapter to allow single distributor & coil conversion with inexpensive parts and about 5 minutes labor. If anyone want to recreate it I can supply dimensions & photos.
So. I really want to run something similar to this single dizzy conversion on my USA GTB. I don't want to pay $1500 plus for a new distributor so figuring out who made this securing ring wouod be great. I also would like to confirm that the cap and rotor listed above are correct. I'm willing to pay to have a run of these these securing rings made so any of us wanting to completely lose the rear bank dizzy, and run a single coil to a single distributor can do this as well as move to a cheaper cap and rotor. I'd plan on using a modern electronic ignition system with it. Anyone run something similar?
I just put two MSD pickups in (one in each dizzy) and run two HEI modules with two coils - looks stock (still using original distributor caps with MSD wires so maybe doesn't get where you want to be but works great.
Yes...that is a great way to go. But, and I may be wrong, with that approach, you are relying on two separate advance mechanisms which may advance on slightly differing curves. That's why I would like to switch to one distributor. That, and it would be cool to be able to replace the rotor and cap for less than $400-500 every few years if I can figure how the folks in this thread did it before.
Image Unavailable, Please Login So...I just compared one of my S127G caps to a S159 cap and they are identical dimensions at the base (the S127 cap looks bigger in the pic because it is a bit taller). I had initially wanted to make a conversion ring and adapter for the MSD ford V8 cap and rotor from post #5 above, but after looking at all of these newer caps, they are complete crap compared to our Magneto Marelli units which are total tanks comparatively. My thought is why not just put a euro S127 cap and rotor on a S159 and run our two existing coils with dual pertronix, MSD, or Crane pickups? This allows us to pick the S159 with the best advance, put it on the front bank, and run similar to a euro without doofing up the tach driver. No permanent changes to the car, only OEM euro cap, rotor, and wires. Has anyone done this? I hope to try it. The only hangup I can foresee is the height of the rotor from dizzy to dizzy. I have two brand new S127Gs, so when I get my car back from its Major, I'll do a test fit and break out the calipers before I try a conversion. Any glaring errors in my thinking?
