This morning I decided to add another distributor R&D project to my list - converting F engine distributors to Toyota electronic ignition. This would also include any non-US Land Cruiser small cap distributors such as 19100-61080 and 19100-61010. So far it looks promising.
I'm not a machinist myself, but I do have quite a bit of experience from supervising mechanical design/drafters and working with precision machinists in my past professional life. I'm pretty sure by spending a few minutes with the earlier cam on a lathe, a machinist could turn down a portion of the cam at the lobes so that a later pickup wheel from a 9/77 through 8/87 cam could be press fit onto the cam. I've already determined that a 8/80 through 8/87 large cap distributor breaker plate could be installed in the earlier distributor housing with very minor modification to the housing. The small stud on the later breaker plate would be compatible with the U-shaped clip on the vacuum advancer's actuator rod. To finish the modification, all you'd have to do is screw a signal generator to the breaker plate and run the wires through the distributor housing. You'd end up with something similar to the distributors seen in one of my earlier posts:
forum.ih8mud.com
Here are a few reference photos:
The cam on the left is from a Canada spec 2F distributor 19100-61091, and is almost identical to the 9/77 through 8/87 cam (the pickup wheel has been removed). The cam in the middle is from an earlier F engine distributor. The cam on the right is from an 8/80 through 8/87 2F distributor. A puller can be used to remove the pickup wheel from the cam.
I'd like to try this concept on a prototype, so I'm looking for a volunteer MUD machinist who is willing to tackle a simple cam machining job.
I'm not a machinist myself, but I do have quite a bit of experience from supervising mechanical design/drafters and working with precision machinists in my past professional life. I'm pretty sure by spending a few minutes with the earlier cam on a lathe, a machinist could turn down a portion of the cam at the lobes so that a later pickup wheel from a 9/77 through 8/87 cam could be press fit onto the cam. I've already determined that a 8/80 through 8/87 large cap distributor breaker plate could be installed in the earlier distributor housing with very minor modification to the housing. The small stud on the later breaker plate would be compatible with the U-shaped clip on the vacuum advancer's actuator rod. To finish the modification, all you'd have to do is screw a signal generator to the breaker plate and run the wires through the distributor housing. You'd end up with something similar to the distributors seen in one of my earlier posts:
Distributor Tech - '75 through '77 Conversion to Electronic Ignition Using Toyota/NipponDenso Parts
This evening I finished upgrading a lightly used 2015 Trollhole electronic distributor using Toyota/NipponDenso parts. I replaced the stationary (breaker) plate with a '78 through '80 2F stationary plate, replaced the electronics with a new Camry (Celica, not Camry - it was late at night when I...
forum.ih8mud.com
Here are a few reference photos:
The cam on the left is from a Canada spec 2F distributor 19100-61091, and is almost identical to the 9/77 through 8/87 cam (the pickup wheel has been removed). The cam in the middle is from an earlier F engine distributor. The cam on the right is from an 8/80 through 8/87 2F distributor. A puller can be used to remove the pickup wheel from the cam.
I'd like to try this concept on a prototype, so I'm looking for a volunteer MUD machinist who is willing to tackle a simple cam machining job.
Last edited:
