Electronic Ignition Choices?

[hands_aus]

Hey George,

I imagine the cam is a major part of the distributor so did you have to replace the distributor or was it rebuildable?

Bob (Brisbane,Australia)
early 250 SL, RHD

[Cees Klumper]

The shaft comes out completely and so can be replaced in its entirety, or either of the two pieces that compose it can be replaced. It runs in two replacable bushings that are pressed inside the distributor housing. Here's a photo of the top half of the shaft, showing the cam part and, at the bottom of the photo, at the end of the shaft you can see where the little felt pad goes that should be oiled at specified intervals:

Download Attachment: what 3.jpg
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Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Douglas]

Just drove the Pagoda after a Pertronix electronic ignition was installed & it's outstanding. Smooth idle, even power, no backfiring, cool operating temperatures -- and a completely stealth installation.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260

[George Davis]

Bob,

My distributor was rebuildable. Dan just replaced the cam section, as shown in Cees' photo, with a good used part.  I noticed immediately that the timing marks are much more steady now when viewed with a timing light, especially at 3000 rpm.  Hopefully the points will last longer, too.


George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[hands_aus]

Hey Doug,

Congratulation! Did you install the Pertronix 1864 LA unit?

My car is running just great now.
The engine was running too rich because the mixture screw was not holding its position.
To counter this I removed the thinest shim under the Inj Pump Warm-up Valve housing and then I adjusted the air/fuel mixture one notch leaner.
Since then I have been using the car both in the city and on the highway.
My fuel consumption is now around 17.3 MPG Imperial. It has been as low as 9 MPG.
The car is very peppy since the adjustment.

George,
I hope the points last longer too. If not you might be re-reading all these posts about an electronic module installation.

Bob (Brisbane,Australia)
early 250 SL, RHD

[Cees Klumper]

For detailed files on the whole ignition system (stock, electronic, spark plug wires etc) from the 'old' Yahoo! site, you can also check here:

http://index.php?topic=1356

where I posted three separate word files with 8,000 posts worth of information on the ignition system. Altogether 20 pages I believe.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Ben]

I fitted new points and a condensor to my 230SL and set the dwell to specs. I have covered over 15,000 miles since and there are no signs of pitting AND the dwell is still spot on !

How cool is that !!!

I keep a spare set of points in the glovebox though, but I'm not gonna bothe rhanging them 'till I have to !


Oh yeah and my reason for posting........I recently did a 650 mile trip over a couple of days, mainly open road cruising, and recorded, accurately, an amazing 26mpg !!!
Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[Naj ✝︎]

26 mpg is great Ben.
You must have left your lead soled shoes at home!!
What ign. coil/ballast resistor are you using?
naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[71 pagoda]

Doug,
Did Hans  do the installation and if so how long did it take.
Larry

[hands_aus]

Hey Ben,
26 mpg is fantastic.
What type of fuel do you use?

Bob (Brisbane,Australia)
early 250 SL, RHD

[Ben]

quote:What ign. coil/ballast resistor are you using?

..........haven't a clue !!

I've never changed it or had trouble with it so I left it all alone !!
Its a black Bosch coil and a rather old looking Ballast Resistor.

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor