Messing about with the Tiger's timing yesterday, grabbing the
distributor cap to advance timing a bit with the car running, I got a
very electrical reminder how much voltage is flowing through the system
with my new Ignitor II electronic ignition and Flamethrower II coil.
Man, that was a serious shock, very painful at first, and I had a bruise
on my hand where I had attempted to grab the cap. I've done the same
thing (adjust the distributor with the motor running), without the
shock, on numerous Alpines and my last Tiger, with no ill effect. When I
had my previous shocking experience with the Tiger a few weeks ago, I
changed back to my original plug wires to see if this was the cause, but
again got another shock, so changed back again to my new wires.
I've got new plugs, new MSD 8 mm plug wires, a new rotor and a new
distributor cap installed (along with the new ignition and coil).
Since I don't want to re-experience this much fun, how can one check to
see where the voltage is leaking (the dist. cap, wires, etc.) without
doing it the old fashioned way and experiencing in a small way what the
electric chair must feel like? After my first shock, I ran the car in
the garage (door opened, of course) in the dark to see if I could see
any electrical "tracking" but I didn't notice anything that way.
Also, should that metal tab on top of the rotor actually touch the
inside bottom of the distributor cap (where that contact is on the cap)?
I think mine does, and I wonder if this could contribute to my little
jolts.
Steve Sage
1967 Tiger MK1A
(And lots of Alpines through the years)
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