I don't think they put on a different distributor until after 1970, at
least. My '70 88 had the old style distributor. It only had 45,000 miles
on it when I bought it, so doubt the distributor had been changed. It also
had no other pollution devices other than a PCV valve. Seem to remember
looking at another low mileage '70 that had the same set up as mine.
Someone may have snuck in there and changed something, but doubt it. 1968
was a significant year for passenger auto's but seem to remember that
pollution devices weren't mandated on trucks until later. Possibly the
introduction of the series III in '72. Of course, California may have had
different, more stringent pollution standards earlier, so all bets are off
for trucks originally imported into the people's republic.
Aloha
Peter
>From: "Richard L. Ziegler" <rziegler@sover.net>
>Hope Peter notes that he knows of some late IIa and III L/Rs that do not
>have retard type distributors on them. Yup! Even my '74 series III has
>the
>advance type distributor on it. Of course it was not imported that way
>(and
>neither were the ones he mentions) as I wound up replacing the original
>retard type distributor with the advance type for the previous owner of
>what
>is now my '74 L/R. You have to remember that the first things that
>deteriorated on the L/Rs were the pollution control bits and pieces and
>British Leyland did not resupply them so we would convert the engines to be
>like the older ones by taking off the pollution control equipment as the
>items wore out. The advance type distributor fits in the same place as the
>retard type distributor so once you had to replace the Zenith pollution
>control carb with one that was not pollution control you might as well
>change the distributor to the advance type and set the timing specs to
>those
>of the L/Rs that were running around in the rest of the world (the same
>specs that were used on earlier NADA L/Rs).
>In '68 for NADA (North American Dollar Area) the only thing that was put on
>to achieve pollution control was a PCV valve.
>In '69 they changed the carb to the Zenith pollution control type with the
>requisite retard distributor and they also added a front exhaust pipe that
>incorporated an exhaust gas recirculation device that plugged into the base
>area of the carb (these bits being the very first items to deteriorate and
>BL had no exact replacements for them). In addition they sealed the gas
>tank system and added the charcoal filter for gasoline fumes, which were
>then piped to the air intake horn. This system was then used on the Series
>III L/Rs which we first saw in the USA in the 2nd half of 1972. Needless
>to
>say, when British Leyland stopped importing L/Rs to NADA in 1974 they also
>quit importing parts for them.
>Note to TeriAnn: It is not the body seals that are being replaced it is the
>rubber pieces that are between the chassis and the rear box that act as
>cushions there.
>Rich Ziegler, Series L/R mechanic & owner since '63
>
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