Marelli Distributors

Emery DeWitt · 02-13-2002, 05:49 AM

My first post!

I'm reading several books to educate myself about early 911's before beginning a search, including "101 Projects". That one had an incredible "gotcha" that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere: if you want to do a garden variety ignition tuneup, including distributor cap and rotor, AND if the car has a Marelli distributor, step 1 is to replace the distributor to the tune of $700!

That's my first smiley, too, but it seems appropriate for this one!

SO, my questions:

1. Which years/models had this accursed distributor?

2. How can you tell by looking whether it's a Marelli or a Bosch?

3. Is it still true that tune-up parts for the Marelli are totally unavailable?

Thanks,
E.

RoninLB · 02-13-2002, 06:22 AM

Greetings....What 911 do you have?? Will you do the work yourself??? Do you want to do the work yourself?? Is your printer ready?? Can you install a nut on a bolt blind folded??

roGERK · 02-13-2002, 08:58 AM

Hello and welcome!

The Marellis were installed on some early 911s in the 1960s and (possibly) the early 1970s.

The Marelli has the words "Marelli Magnetti" on it, if you're lucky enough to actually see one (I've seen one in the scrap barrel of a Porsche shop about 5 years ago).

Almost all of them will have been replaced with Bosch units by now, since the points are very hard to find and the caps seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth...

Really nothing too serious to worry about!

- roGER

Emery DeWitt · 02-13-2002, 09:36 AM

I don't have a 911, yet. Years ago, I owned a 10-year-old 928, and that was a real disaster. The only saving grace is that I bought it from a Porsche dealer, so I was able to get a warranty. Of the first 30 days, about 20 were in the shop!

I kept it 6 months, and it cost at least $400 per month to keep it running. This was in the late 80's, when $400 per month would probably pay for a brand new 928!

That was a daily driver, when it would drive. This time, I'm just looking to get a hobby car for not much money, and tinker on it. I'm trying to go into the deal with a lot more knowledge than I did last time.

And yes, I've done my share of blind-folded bolt-nutting! Do you have a fix, in case I find a car that's perfect except for the distributor?

E.

Rich911E · Rich911E's Garage

Emery:

Welcome to the world of 911s and sorry about the rude introduction.

The Marelli distributor caps are difficult (if not impossible) to obtain, but the points are generally available. Change the points, plugs and check the wires for the moment and make sure that they are working OK and adjust the carbs (if applicable) and leave the car running.

Then check the Pelican 911 Parts bulletin board for a used distributor -- do a search. They seem to be in the $150 range. You could send it to a good distributor shop and they can set up the curve for your engine, check the end play, etc. I would suggest that you have the distributor modified with one of the electronic trigger kits from Pertronix and eliminate the points. It will probably cost you about $75 for the Pertronix kit and another $75 for the distributor work, but it should be pretty trouble-free from then on. It is certainly better than paying $700 for a distributor and still having to fiddle with points.

There are also a couple of technical articles about converting to an MSD ignition (I did, but used Mallory parts) which I thought was a big improvement.

PS -- Personally, I like the Marelli distributor -- it is so simple and nicely made, it is unforturnate that parts aren't available. I was always going to try to find a 6 cylinder cap that might fit and machine it to accept it, but I have too many projects already.

Good luck.

Rich Murphy

roGERK · 02-13-2002, 10:00 AM

Emery - really, its no big deal. I doubt you'll ever see a 911 with a Marelli dizzy outside a museum...

As for the 928 - bad luck. Too bad its replacement, in the form of an SUV will be with us soon. But hopefully, not for long.

- roGER

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

They also stuck them in the 914/6 2.0 motors....they can be converted to Bosch. The Marrellis are then used as a door stop.

Z

RoninLB · 02-13-2002, 10:26 AM

Emery..sorry if I came on as a A hole...."a fix"..I like a brand new Carrera 2.7 dizzy. Very flexable unit. Can be used with vac. advance or without it. Curve is similar to CIS curves. Works great with carbs. Comes new with points and cap. Costs about $275 from Pelican. IMO, big bang for the buck

BK911 · BK911's Garage

Some of the 70 and 71 2.2T's came with the Marelli dizzy. They also came with the Zenith carbs which aren't as popular as Webers. All easy fixes but they add up after a while!

Good luck!
BK

CamB · CamB's Garage

As far as I am aware, all '69Ts came with the Marelli and the 914-6 had the same engine. As stated above the 2.2s with Zenith carbs seem to have them too.

I have one on my '69. The cap and rotor are in horrible condition. It still runs well (as a daily driver!), but I am band-aiding the problem with an MSD unit.

John, "Fishcop" in Australia has just replaced his with a second hand Bosch one he bought for
I am replacing the engine instead, but that is a whole 'nother story (I want to go faster than 110hp).

My opinion - a Marelli distributor isn't a reason not to buy an early car but might be a good way to talk the seller into dropping the price another $700

. Be more worried about the condition of the rest of the car and engine...

Emery DeWitt · 02-13-2002, 01:37 PM

Hey, Ron,

don't worry about coming across as A-hole or whatever - I'm basically impossible to offend! I've learned the hard way to trust those who know more than I...

"Good judgement comes from experience... experience comes from bad judgement!"

And to all of you, thanks for the shared knowledge. This is a pretty neat online community!

E.