1098cc distributor type and oil filter questions

[jjscott]

After spending a little more time looking at what I dragged home, I've got some more questions.

The 1098cc engine in my Bugeye has a Lucas distributor without a vacuum advance. The advance is not removed; there is no provision for one. Moss shows a vacuum advance for all the sprite engines; what kind of problems can I expect if I retain this distributor?

The housing that holds the oil filter to the block is broken off and the oil pipe bent in two. I imagine this happened some time when this engine was sitting on the floor for the last 25 years. When I moved the engine home the housing just fell clean off. Moss shows the housings as NLA. Should I just use the Moss spin on adapter or try to find a housing and pipe?

I understand the flywheels for the 948 and 1098 are different. How do I tell what I have, and does it matter? The goal is to find a rib case gearbox and use with the 1098 engine. The engine plate is identified as the correct, thick, one. No leads yet on a trans locally.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Talonaer]

any numbers on the dizzy?

May we be something like a 23D (orig on cooper S) etc. Its what my tuned 948 had had put on with some tweaks to the advance curve.

Any idea if any of the rest of the kits been upgraded/changed? i.e. overbored pistons etc etc

 

[jjscott]

I wrote down the numbers on the distributor, but then left the paper sitting on the floor next to the engine. The car is at my cottage & I'm not there. But photo editing shows the number as 23 D4, then 40679 K (maybe) and a number 73 at the bottom, which could be the year.

I have no idea what is inside. When I owned the car before it had its original engine. The guy who had it the last 38 years wasn't too meticulous, given the fact he took a grinder to the pressure plate to get it to fit in the smooth case bell housing.

 

[dklawson]

Yes, that sounds like the Cooper-S distributor. It will be fine with your 1098 if you choose to keep it. However, I believe it uses slightly different points than the 25D series (heavier points spring?).

 

[jjscott]

Thanks for the identification. I will stay with this distributor. I also found an oil filter bracket, so the original filter stays as well.

Jim

 

[dklawson]

I did some checking in Marcel Chichak's distributor list. I found the 40679 listed but zero application information on it. Marcel's list says that the dizzy number you quoted is a type DZS4. I have never even heard of those. "D" series distributors have a different shape than shown in your picture.

What is shown in your picture is clearly a 23D4 distributor. I can see 23D4 stamped above the 5-digit model number. When I look at your picture I see 40819K. The base number 40819 is for the Cooper-S. It was fitted from the early 1960s to engines from the 970cc to the 1275cc.

 

[Roger]

Back in days of yore I built a 1098 engine for my wife's Mini with one of those Cooper S distributors, a 731 camshaft, 1 1/" SU on Janspeed inlet manifold, Janspeed exhaust, and modified 12G295 head.
It went like the clappers!

 

[Sarastro]

The oil filter bracket and enclosure should be easy to find; keep a watch on eBay. They don't sell well, because there isn't a big demand for them (they don't exactly wear out), and if someone needs one, he's more likely just to convert to a spin-on filter. So, when you find a bracket, it'll be cheap. The spin-on might also be a good way to go, in your case, especially if you don't like having a stream of hot, dirty oil running down your arm when you change the oil filter.

There's a lot of this stuff that shows up in places like eBay. Some of the smaller suppliers like British Parts Northwest often have a better selection, better prices, and customer service without the "attitude" that certain unnamed larger suppliers are known for. So, I encourage you to do a little skulking around the internet and see what's out there.

 

[jjscott]

I'm back with access to the car and can confirm the distributor numbers:
23D4 40819K 73

So, Cooper S it is.

I did find the filter housing on ebay. It was in completed auctions, hadn't sold, so I contacted the seller who relisted it with a buy-it-now. The whole deal was $16.00 - block adapter, filter housing, can, oil pipe, and a new in box filter element. The spin on adapter is north of $100; I can put the difference toward the engine rebuild.

Any comments on the correct pressure plate. Moss indicates the 1098 part is different and more expensive. How do I tell what flywheel I have?

Jim

 

[nomad]

Curious, is your 1098 a 10CC or a 10CG? I believe both take the same pressure plate. Crank is four bolt so you are stuck with that.

Kurt.

 

[jjscott]

It's a 10CC.