The Sprite Forum

I went to install a Petronix distributor in my 948 Sprite today. Put cylinder 1 at TDC on the combustion stroke and noted the rotor position in the old distributor as being facing directly forwarded. Could not get the Petronix to go in. After much too much effort I noticed that the drive ears on the original distributor and the Petronix were slightly offset. But offset to opposite sides. Rotating the rotor on the Petronix distributer so that it faced to the rear and it slid right in. Is this Normal or was my new disributor assembled wrong? I can route the spark plugs wires to make it work as it is but that just seem wrong. Always expert the Rotor to point towards the No 1 cylinder when that cylinder fires. Any suggestions

If you have a long shanked 5/16 fine thread bolt you can thread that into the distributor drive spindle in the block. Then, pull it out and rotate the spindle the roughly 180º you need and reinsert it while turning it slightly until it meshes with the camshaft gear and the end seats in the internal hole. Once in the correct position carefully unthread the bolt while lightly pressing downward so that it's locked into the camshaft gear and all the way seated - otherwise it can fall into the block (be careful!).

Then your rotor should be pointing in the correct direction (no. 1 spark plug) when you fit the Pertronix.