looking for dist. rotor WITHOUT the rpm limit

[}{arlequin]

Does Pelican sell just a simple rotor? Only rotors I seem to be able to find are the ones w/ the centrifugal limiter.

I have a 0-231-184-003 distributor. Are there any other rotors that fit it? VW maybe?

thanks.

[widebody911]

Take your limited rotor and remove the limiting mech.

IIRC, there is a VW rotor that's functionally identical, I had an x-ref chart somewhere...

[B D]

That's what I do, just remove the spring and a the little plastic piece it attaches to and you're done.

[Grady Clay]

Dave,

Save your relatively expensive rev-limit rotor. There are very inexpensive non-rev-limit Bosch rotors that are direct replacement.

Best,
Grady

[john walker's workshop]

'73 bug fits perfectly.

[}{arlequin]

I have an '83 VW spare rotor at home and as far as height and shaft diameter they look identical. Not sure about the "reach" of the contact point, but I'll try it out at lunch.

[}{arlequin]

Update:

tried on the vw rotor and the motor sputtered at first but ran fine. (Didn't drive it.)

But.... I have a dist/cap/rotor "theory" question about the orientation of the contact point on the rotor. My rev limit rotor when looked at from above, has the notch for the dist. shaft at 6 o'clock and the contact point is at 2 o'clock.

the vw rotor has the notch at 6 o'clock too, but the contact point is directly opposite, at 12 o'clock.

does that mess up the "timing" or synchronization of the spark or is this irrelevant?

[911pcars]

Dave,
Good question. The relative positions of the notch and contact arm are relevant only if one tries to exchange the rotors w/o further compensation. Two "clock positions" (between noon and 2 o'clock) is probably too far away to maintain the correct firing order.

What's important is the rotor points to the number 1 spark plug wire position on the cap when no. 1 cylinder is at/near TDC, ready to fire. Normal distributor housing rotation should then fine-tune the ignition timing.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood

[RoninLB]

fwiw.. I ordered a Bosch non-rev limiting rotor on a Pelican phone call without any pn info. I could find the Bosch pn if needed.

[}{arlequin]

Ron,
a part # and maybe even a pic would be great. I just want a general idea of what that rotor looks like as well...

here's a pic of the vw rotor I've tried... at idle it didn't sound that great, not really "purring" but at 3-4K rpm it sounded the same (?)



Sherwood,
does that mean that if I line up the notches to get TDC, if the rotor point points towards #1 cyl wire on the cap, then I'm fine?

-my vw rotor is supposedly for an '83 Rabbit GTI... I'll look for other years/models to see if they have the "2 o'clock" position

[911pcars]

"does that mean that if I line up the notches to get TDC, if the rotor point points towards #1 cyl wire on the cap, then I'm fine?"

Dave,
Looks like mine, should be fine. Make sure the replacement rotor has the same rotor arm length (OD) as the oem rev-limiting rotor you removed.

Depending on how much rotation room you have, you may have to remove the distributor from the engine and re-engage the gear so the rotor points to no. 1 wire on the cap with the housing notch in the same physical position as before. However it ends up, the main correlation is between rotor, no. 1 spark plug wire and the correct timing mark (no. 1 cyl., end of compression stroke).

Sherwood

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
Ron,
a part # and maybe even a pic would be great. I just want a general idea of what that rotor looks like as well...

your pic looks identical to mine. The large # on the box says 04038.

under the rotor tip is a stamped # 1 234 332 300.. which is also printed on the box.

[}{arlequin]

thanks guys.... I'll play around w/ switching them over the weekend and report what happened.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
Ron,
a part # and maybe even a pic would be great. I just want a general idea of what that rotor looks like as well...

here's a pic of the vw rotor I've tried...

I found the Pelican receipt from '02. The receipt pn is Bos-04038. It doesn't seem to come up on the pelican part number search at the top of the page.

[}{arlequin]

thanks for the update Ron.

I've found that the VW rotor works just fine. (there are 2 sizes, forget which one is "ours" but when I order one for '83 Rabbit GTI, it fits perfect) As far as the 12 o'clock position of the contact vs. 2 o'clock on the rev-limiting rotor, that gets taken care of quite nicely w/ a timing light.

[Early_S_Man]

Dave,

That rotor looks like it will work, but it appears to be a later type with built-in resistance under that dark sealing compound. The VW bug/bus rotors everyone is talking about didn't have a resistance element ... solid brass from center contact to tip!

For the database ...

Resistor-incorporated rotor -- Bosch 1.234.332.219 [last digit uncertain]

Ron's rotor without resistor -- Bosch 1.234.332.300

[domtoni]

Guys,

My 69E, 2.0 is misfiring. Might be a bad lead wire, but it could be a rev limiting rotor. Can I assume that the Bosch 1.234.332.300 should work in my car and eliminate the hesitation or bucking? Thought bucking came from fuel, but a colleague heard the engine misfire. Might have a bad transformer to distributor wire or a bad lead to a plug from the distributor.
Valves etc are all set. Am I on the right track?

Thanks
Dom

PS, EarlySman, saw a great 1968 340 Barracuda at Silverstone today (along with alot of other neat stuff, like old Group 7 cars etc)