Odd spec on my car. Can you advise?

[Monkeyzak]

I raked through hundreds of invoices and paperwork history on my car. Plus hundreds of photos of a presumably frighteningly expensive rebuild. The car was rough. I did find out its UK registered in April 81

It seems to have come out of the factory with UK spec but with Lucas distributor and lucas electronic ignition and air con. Neither the factory electronic ignition or air con are connected any more. Odd spec for a UK car

I found a heritage certificate a previous owner applied for. Confirms UK car

How can I find out what Lucas distributor is fitted so I can get the right cap and rotor arm? The Lucas electronic ignition has a separate silver box and I think disconnected. I gather delco remi was the normal spec

Also, it has an after market electronic ignition replacing the Lucas one. How do I find out if its lumination or something else?

Thanks

[busheytrader]

A US spec car sold in to the domestic market in a RHD shell?

I've read many stories about prototypes being sold on through U.K. dealerships or staff. The likes of John215 and Chris Turner have far more knowledge than me.

[Monkeyzak]

I found a British heritage certificate with all the matching numbers with the car. So seems definitely UK

Apparently some destined for senior BL staff had odd spec

The reg number is nwl 603w if anyone has come across it. I think it came to Scotland 15 -20 years ago maybe

I wish it was bog standard with nothing odd like air con and factory electronic ignition as it would make life for a newbie easier!!!

[saabfast]

1981 is a bit late for a prototype, they stopped production then. As said, John, Chris or Christopher tend to have a lot of historical documents and may be able to add something, although if you have the Heritage Certificate that should tell most things.
Of course, any modifications in later years are probably not documented anywhere.

[Monkeyzak]

The heritage certificate is from 1991 so probably not as detailed as they are now

It's a pre Solihull car.

[Monkeyzak]

I can't find any details of the latter electronic ignition. Is there a telltale sign letting you know the brand? A logo or something to look out for? Obviously without the receipt I have no documentation for this.

[busheytrader]

It may have been a "development / tinkering" car that sat unregistered in a dealer / wholesaler after being sold off separately by the factory or sold on to staff

For 2 brief weeks I worked at the Henlys wholesale department in the summer of 1981. They had a multi storey car park full of stuff that wasn't selling which included rows of FHC's as well as MGB's Spitfires and Midgets. Amongst this were some "non standard" spec cars that had been gathering dust for years.

[busheytrader]

Can you post a photo of the distributor without the cap?

[Monkeyzak]

I'll post one when I get home

The car appears to have sat for a year between being built and sold. So that makes sense. Everyone would just want a standard car probably.

[Monkeyzak]

Distributor without cap

[Monkeyzak]

More pics

[Monkeyzak]

Last one

[busheytrader]

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like a Lucas Opus style distributor. I had one fitted to my Rover V8 and as soon as the engine warmed up it lost all functionality. The rev counter dropped down to zero as the sparks were lost to the engine. I scrapped the internals and fitted Lumenition that's been good for 26 years.

I think you have the Lucas 47DE4 distributor, it may be more practical to buy a good used points distributor and fit a Magnetronic type electronic conversion in it or then again keep the points. Others will have more experience on this than I do. My points always fell out of condition after 4,500 miles when I had the 2.0L engine.

Adam

[Monkeyzak]

Wish I knew what electronic ignition system was in it now. Can't see anything with logos. If it fails I'll get a standard one and put electronic in it.

Hopefully it's working ok. Not driven it in a week due to various jobs so not checked the misfire again.