[alfa] Re: ID405 distributor - define edgy

["Paul Irvine" <kcabpilot@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I got a few emails asking for clarification on what I meant by saying the
ID405 was a bit too "edgy"

So, I'll give the whole story on what my experience with it was

To begin with, I had to set my timing at about 15 to 18 degrees BTDC to get
a decent idle with this distributor. Takeoffs from a standstill were never
smooth as it seemed to hesitate and then jump (thus the term edgy) Startups
were instantaneous and it performed very well when underway so no complaints
on that.

About 2 weeks after installing it I began to notice a miss that got
continually worse. I messed with everything trying to track it down and
finally pulled the distributor out for a look. The mounting plate that holds
the pickup had moved upwards and the trigger wheel was rubbing on it.  While
correcting this I had the whole thing apart and noticed that only one of the
flyweights has a spring on it. I talked to Centerline about this and they
didn't seem to know if that was normal or not but figured if it was that way
it probably was normal. (Note: the ID405 has a modified advance curve)

Anyway, when I had it apart I dropped the rotor and the counterweight broke
off so I ordered a couple of new rotors from Centerline. The rotors that
came were Itab aftermarket ones and they are exactly 1.5 mm taller than the
original Bosch rotor. In other words - they didn't work. They rubbed on the
contacts of the cap and the car would barely run. I talked to Centerline
about that as well and they said they have had no complaints concerning the
Itab rotors from anyone else so I've never completely figured it out. All I
know is that they aren't the same size as the OEM rotors and the OEM rotors
work fine whereas the Itab rotors did not work - at least not on my
distributor.

Before I go any further - I'm not slamming Centerline on any of this. I like
those guys and I've bought plenty of stuff and continue to buy stuff from
them.

Well, I got the thing working again after cross referencing the aftermarket
rotor part numbers and getting a couple of original Bosch rotors at Alfa
Parts. It worked well, aside from the idle and edgy gripes that I had, until
very recently I started to get another miss. It only happened when I really
romped on it and it didn't always happen, it was intermittent.

Finally, I cleaned up and installed my old original points driven Marelli
distributor and guess what - perfect idle, smooth take offs, no miss. In
other words - I'm happy. And what the heck, it gives me an excuse to go out
and do a tune up every once in awhile.

So I'm done with the ID405.  Even though it was suggested by and has gotten
good reviews from some people that I respect, and that know quite a bit
about Alfas. For some reason it just didn't work out for me.

Paul Irvine - Antioch CA
Project Luscombe - http://home.earthlink.net/~vintageair/luscombe
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