Lubrication – Every 3,000 miles

Take great care to prevent oil or grease from getting on or near the contacts.

Lightly smear the cam with a small quantity of Mobil-grease No. 2 or, if this is not available, clean engine oil.

Apply a spot of clean engine oil to the top of the pivot on which the contact breaker works. Lift off the rotor arm by pulling vertically and apply to the spindle a few drops of thin machine oil to lubricate the cam baring. It is not necessary to remove the exposed screw, since it is either drilled or affords a clearance to permit passage of oil.

Replace the rotor arm carefully, locating the molded key in the keyway in the shaft and pushing it on as far as it will go, in order to avoid the risk of the molded cap from being burned or tracked.

A few drops of thin machine oil should be applied through the hole in the contact breaker base through which the cam passes, to lubricate the automatic timing control.

  Taken from Lucas distributor maintenance

The following is an excerpt from:

Lucas Electrical Systems
Part 9 – Ignition circuits (point-style distributors)
By John Twist

The ignition circuit is probably the most critical circuit of the entire electrical system. Without its proper operation, the engine is unable to run, or unable to run well. It is often the source of great frustration when attempting to locate or diagnose a fault. Yet, the ignition circuit is best organized in two, distinct, circuits – the low tension circuit and the high tension circuit. The distributor and the ignition coil are common to both, but the low tension circuit uses the normal 12 volt current, while the high tension circuit packs a mean 15,000 volts.

Distributor
The three items necessary to make and break the ground of the coil are the points, condenser and LT lead. The LT lead (low tension) is simply a connector between the spade terminal on the outside of the distributor body to the points and condenser within. The condenser and points are wired in parallel, so that the condenser acts as a ‘sponge’ to absorb the several hundred volts induced in the low tension circuit just as the points open. Without the condenser the points are not able to make a clean ‘break’ of the grounding circuit, and the high voltage arcs between the points as they begin to open.

FAULTS: Both the cam rider and points themselves wear on the point assemblies. Eventually, the points no longer open as far as they should, and the coil does not have time to fully de-magnetize prior to the points closing, resulting in a weak spark. The time that the points are closed is the DWELL, and on most four cylinder Lucas distributers this is 60 degrees. As the dwell decreases, the timing retards. One degree of dwell gain equals about one degree of retarded timing.


Editor’s Note: the article in its entirety can be found on the CMGC website. In the Technical Tips section..
http://chicagolandmgclub.com/driveline80/0385/tech2.html