Proper phasing is absolutely critical for the XR700 to work properly in the Marelli distributor. I keep an old cap with holes drilled in it for this purpose. Drill a hole in your old cap, & buy yourself a new cap & rotor.
The XR700 for the Bosch distributor maybe a drop-in replacement. I'm not sure as I've always put Pertronix systems in those distributors. Either that, or you just got lucky. :-) However, the XR700 for the Marelli is a generic kit in which the optical trigger is mounted to an adjustable bracket. Without proper adjustment, the coil will get a signal to fire when the rotor is not positioned over the contact on the cap. I've seen this in a number of cars. Often, the car will run OK cold but will start to run worse as it warms up. In case you don't have it, here is the instruction manual for the XR700: http://www.triumphspitfire.com/images/cranemanual.pdf Phasing procedures are described starting at the bottom right of page 13. The phasing itself does not require a hole in the cap. The hole in the cap is for verifying proper phasing. If the phasing procedures are followed to the letter, it'll come out fine 9 times out of 10. Regards, Michael Keith Houston, TX -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 1:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: alfa-digest V10 #2402 Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:30:35 -0600 From: "Ben Ament" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [alfa] Rotor Phasing Modelle - I assume that you are talking about a Marelli distributor. Installed correctly, the Crane system directly replaces the points. There should be no need to "phase" the rotor. The cap and rotor go on as before. Come to think of it, the first one of these I replaced was on a Spica system 1974 Spider on which I had installed a Bosch distributor. This was 1975 and the process was the same. Simply replace the points with the optical system (back then it was called Allison), replace the cap and rotor, then start the car. Simple and trouble free. I still have that original Allison system on another car. Peace, Ben - -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 3:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [alfa] Rotor Phasing Gentle Alfisti, Has anyone ever looked at rotor phasing on a Spica-era 2 liter? I have replaced the points with a Crane XR700 optical system. Do you really have to destroy a distributor cap to do this? What is your technique? Much Obliged, modelle in Somers Point 115.01, 115.02 -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
