3 litre coil to distributor wires ??

[Deleted]

Hi all, I am new to the forum and I am seeking advice. I have a 3 litre coupé with a suffix C engine. The engine has been fully reconditioned, rebuilt, polished, painted and awaiting to roar into life. The engine is out of the car and is on a stand, it looks pretty good and I would like to hear it fire up before its sold. My problem is I am not sure of the wiring from the coil to the distributor. Assuming its positive earth, which wires are connected to the positive and negative terminals on the coil and the HT terminal on the distributor.
All advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Phil Nottingham]

CB (or +) goes to dizzy - SW (or - ) goes to ignition feed - white wire unless fabric has worn off!

[Deleted]

Cheers Phil, I will wire up accordingly and see if it fires up.

[Phil Nottingham]

Let us know - Welcome anyway tel us more about you/car. The suffux C engine was the best one ever - at its pinnacle of development. Did you DIY or have it professionally?

Any pics?

[Deleted]

The engine was rebuilt professionally and will be on Ebay later today.
The car is or was a 1963 coupe which I bought 10/12 years ago and was stripped ready to be restored but the welding never got started and I have decided I will never have time to complete the car. But on the good side the engine was reconditioned and is now ready to re-start its life in a new car.

[Deleted]

Pic of engine

[glennr]

Hi Pat, my name is Glenn Reeve. I am the editor of the owners club magazine Take Five I am really interested in looking for more stories to publish in respect of the 3 litre. That engine looks superb. Can you supply me with some more information/ photo's? I think this would make an excellent article. Please feel free too e mail me. [e-mail]

Best regards

[Deleted]

Hi Glenn, I can e-mail you some photos of the engine as all the bits were being re-assembled and the car as it is now but unfortunately I do not have any during the re-manufacture of the engine. Also I may be able to scan some photos of when I bought the car and it sitting waiting to be welded in a friends yard accompanied by several vintage Rolls Royces.
Patrick

[Ken Nelson]

Hi Glenn;
I have been working on writing something up about my 3-litre restoration and should have some pics of the inside of my engine that I can send you later. Was a 1963 car a suffix C engine? My car is a 1966 coupe, but the engine I restored was from a spare 1964 saloon, and I recall that the main bearing size for the crank was different than needed for the 1966 engine. Was it considered the same C-series engine? Just curious, since my main concern was merely that it ran! Ken

[Phil Nottingham]

Suffix C engines were the same but the C automatic engine's cranksahft is not the same as the manual but they both have the big bearings etc

[thor64]

Hi , Not being up to speed on positive earth systems, am I right in thinking a coil suppressor would hook up to the SW (or - ) on my positive earth system coil? Hooked up to the ignition feed? ( mine is a 3 litre M2C) Thanks

[enigmas]

I gather you're aware that this thread is over a decade old.

If it's a positive earth car then you should have a coil with terminals marked SW and CB.

SW is power from the IGN switch and CB is Contact Breaker or the low tension lead to the distributor.

The Battery Positive is the ground for the car.

If using a modern coil reverse the connections for a Positive Earth car, ie. The negative terminal (-) becomes the SW and the positive terminal (+) becomes the CB wire connecting to the distributor.

What do you mean by a "Coil Suppressor" (a ballast resistor or some device to mute static on the car's radio or other?)

If the issue is to do with radio interference then these devices used to be fitted on the end of High Tension solid core wire spark plug leads to stop radio interference.

If you have this issue then replace the solid core leads (pre 1950s tech) with a set of modern carbon fibre spark plug leads or spend a dollar more and buy a set of hi-performance spiral core leads, which gives you the best of both worlds.

Whatever it is, don't fit it between the low tension lead that connects to the distributor.

[thor64]

Hi enigmas, yes I thought I would save starting a new thread by resurrecting this one, also keeps information about coils and positive earth together. It seems to be an RF problem.  Reading threads from old I gather Rover 3 litre's of my vintage didn't have balanced resistors. I gather they had suppressor/ capacitors on the generator and the coil. Mine also has one on the starter motor. I am trying to keep the car as original as poss and these new fangled ignition leads with built in suppression would work. I do not plan on listening to the radio much but the clicking is loud and annoying. My coil is of the screw in type with SW and CB and I just wanted to make sure which is the correct terminal to hook the suppressor to. Thank you for your help. Will you be going to the Nations? It will be good to put faces to forum users.

[enigmas]

Unfortunately not thor64, I reside close (within 7 km) to the southern coast of Victoria in OZ, so it's not really possible, but visiting the UK with my wife and perhaps meeting a few RoverP5 enthusiasts and classic car buffs is on my bucket list.

Radio Interference.
Moving on...I'm not so sure that the term "new fangled" ignition leads for the carbon core leads found on most cars from major manufacturers from the mid 1960s onwards is an apt description.

Although you may have "old fangled" components providing the required ignition chores, it's really not that difficult to fit viable new fangled components that look similar enough to the original pieces. As a plus the engine will run more efficiently and without the accustomed radio whine or interference that some may say is part of the car's period charm. That sort of period charm can become unnerving in very short time.

The upside, well when it's time to place the car in a historic museum all the original components can be refitted.

There are viable options to enhance the car's regular use with modern tech if it's used more than infrequently.

As an aside, the modern formulation of petrol and it's various blends is not designed specifically for carburettored engines. That horse along with the 1950s has bolted. As a consequence, changes need be made to the fuel delivery system if reliability is to be had in a range of traffic and weather conditions.

Good luck with the options you choose.

[Phil Nottingham]

Car radios up till the mid-70s were often very susceptible to electrical interference and capacitors were often fitted everywhere where induction currents, static and sparks from points contact/pumps e.g fuel pumps, clock, dynamo regulators/brushes, alternator, wiper and fan motors and instrument voltage stabiliser. I have fitted all these at one time to cars in the 1960s/70s. Not found them necessary now and removed them as they are another breakdown weakness through old age and resistive connections.

Static was reduced by flexible earth straps on bonnets, doors and boot lids.

In line Ferrite chokes were sometimes fitted to the supply to the radio - this is quite effective even now but modern radios have suppression circuits.

All this still may not have been effective on weak signals often caused by poor aerial mounts/connection!

VHF (FM) radios were very prone.  The carbon HT leads used from the mid 1960s were good but hardened and degraded quickly causing misfires and X firing in the damp.

It is not "period" to refit these now as only the plug leads were suppressed when new this was the law as old cars with faulty ignition interfered with the old UK 405 line VHF TV signals 

[thor64]

Hi enigmas, I keep being tripped up by the internet not specifying where the people using it are from. I was talking with someone in Carolina USA and did not know. Hopefully you will get to come over soon. Last year we visited my sister who lived in Cairns and we drove a camper van from Brisbane to Cairns. Stayed a month. I was able to hire a nice Holden while there; see photos. Hope this is not braking any rules showing none Rover cars but how can you go to Australia without driving a Holden. 

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[enigmas]

Hi Thor64, it's a big Country with vast distances and quite diverse weather patterns if you ever travel from the extreme north towards Darwin, virtually at the same latitude as Cairns or right down to Hobart at the most southern point of Tasmanian where the climes are similar to the UK.

If you look at a map of OZ, I reside only 15 kms from Melbourne CBD and 7kms from the southern coastline at Brighton Beach. The distance between Cairns and my home is vast.

Recently my wife and I travelled up north to Maryborough, then Cooloola Cove near Rainbow Beach and Tincan Bay to visit childhood friends. We stayed a few days then drove back a couple of hundred kms to coastal Caloundra where we stayed for 10 days. Over a 3 week period we travelled approx 4000 kms. On average driving 4 hours each day and arriving a country motel at around 2-2.30 pm.

Holdens and Fords were the big two car manufacturers in OZ during my childhood and teen years with the annual touring car race at Bathhurst Mount Panorama a major event of the year for car enthusiasts. Sadly that's all disappeared (the local element) with the closure of auto manufacturers in OZ with the last being Toyota. Holdens and Fords were developed for the unique conditions in OZ, but sadly no more.

I hope you enjoyed your stay in OZ.
Cheers ~ Vince

[thor64]

Hi enigmas, I seem to be going further and further away from distributor wires for Rover's with this but with you mentioning Bathhurst and being near Melbourne have you heard of the Albany Classic? My sister has been working in Albany and she brought me souvenirs from the June 2023 event which she attended. Also took videos and photos of the event. As you say the distance from Albany to Melbourne would be great. Would have loved to have been there and seen them racing around the streets. 

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[enigmas]

No, I haven't, but I was for years a regular frequenter of classic, historic and other race carnivals at Phillip Island where we had an on-site Caravan for many years.

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1956.