Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All. I have recently returned from a near thousand mile trip in six days to Holland and back . I have carried out a full restoration on this van over the last few years . The van has a1275 midget engine hif38 carb , new wiring and all associated electrical components . It returned 37 mpg on the trip and ran really well except I had to change the points and condenser twice . Any suggestions why the condenser is braking down . Ps the weather was v hot when we did the trip

There's an awful lot of really poor quality condensers out there - well documented fault - best to get good quality ones from the Distributor Doctor or somewhere like that. Bit ,more expensive but they work!

I had a couple of condensers go so I tried electronic ignition which lasted 18 months, I've now had a distributor doctor points and condenser for the last 6 months with no problem.

The 'Dizzy Doc' is the way to go. Fitted one of his 'proper job' condensors six years ago and still working as it should. I also use his points which are superior to the bog-standard ones

Here is a good write up on why they fail, http://nonlintec.com/sprite/cap_failure/
It would appear that the main reasons for failure are manufacturers skimping on the internal components.

Hi thank you all for your informative replies the write up on the condenser being a real eye opener. Still undecided which route to take , electronic or distributor doctor

I would still go to Distributor Doctor even if you opt for electronic.

Many swear by electronic ignition. On the other hand, there have been reports on here of such units failing - and when they fail, they are dead......quite a problem if you are on the road, miles from home - perhaps in Holland! Personally I would get a set of points and a condensor from the good doctor. As well as being a cheaper option to electronic ignition, at service intervals you can check/clean/re-set the points gap, thereby maintaining reliability. Of course, I carry a set of spare points and condensor in case of total failure but have never needed them and unlikely to, as long as I check/maintain the points set-up at the recommended service intervals. Chances are your original points were OK in quality but burnt out when the poor quality condensor failed.
In conclusion, I would say that the points system is very reliable, if set-up correctly with good quality components......