924Board.org

[teo]

Ok, this was in an other topic, but that sunk too fast and I'm really curious about it.

All the cars I've seen (about 10, all Euros) had the distr. housing on the nearly vertical position, now it turns out the US cars have it in the other, in the slanted one.
Can it be something related to the US spec (timing, don't know what, maybe the 10HP
deficit)?

Here's a quick survey:

Who has got the distributor housing where?

A, Nearly vertical, towards the right side
B, Slanted, towards the left side

(right and left when you sit in the car)

[fielderd]

i've got a '80 euro and it is slanted, however there are two sets ofr mounting holes that can be used. The difference is about 10 degrees. I am at a loss to see why there are two sets of holes? however this has nothing to do with hp as timing is adjusted by twisting the distributor.

[Geddy T]

I'm curious as to why Porsche made different mountings for the distributor as this would have not affect on timing. Like the previous poster said, you can twist the distributor to achieve any timing you want no matter what angle it's mounted at. Perhaps it's to accommodate for space occupied by components that are different for right or left hand drive or for emissions equipment in the U.S.

[abduln]

It's an Audi engine, so I suppose Audi is the one to blame, not Porsche.

It's possible that there are different mountings because this engine is used in a few different vehicles and they may have made distributor postition to accomodate different hood and firewall configurations.

Just a half assed theroy on my part

Abdul

[Paul]

Since 77 I've owned 7 924's (not at the same time) plus worked on many customer's 924's and all of their distributors were slanted to the driver's side. With the limited hood clearance and the side to side motion of the engine during acceleration and deceleration, I can imagine that mounting the distibutor in the upright position could even unseat the distributor cap duing normal driving.

[teo]

I don't have my car here now, so I can't check it, but where are the mounting holes, on the block or on the head? 'cause if they are on the block, then the usage in different makes can be the answer, but if they are on the head, then it's something else, as the head was made by Porsche.

1 Euro (RoW) version with the slanted position so far, how about other Euro (RoW, Aussie, Argentina, Finnland, UK, c'mon guys) versions?

[Paul]

There are 2 holes in the distributor mount, which attaches to the head.

[Paul]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1828002941

Hard to see, but this one has the distributor tilted to the driver's side...

[Smoothie]

"B" - (US '82 931)

[Geddy T]

Granted this is an Audi engine, but I've got a 931, which were assembled in house at Porsche and the heads were made by Porsche. Which doesn't explain the different positions for different cars theory. Maybe Porsche had other plans for the engine or like I said before, maybe it's a right-hand drive thing. Has anyone in the states seen one vertical?

[924_fan]

Yes, I have seen a vertical distributor on the 924. It was a sad sight.

Several years ago, I was looking to purchase my first 924. I saw an ad for a 924 in "good condition" with a reasonable asking price; so, I went to see it. The owner of the car had "rebuilt" the engine. When he went to put the hood back on, he noticed that it would not close. So, he cut a hole in the hood to clear the distributor cap. Then he covered the hole with a water tight electrical box cover (aka Bell box cover)for mounting exterior house spot lights. Needless to say, I decided to pass up the opportunity to purchase this example of shade tree mechanics.

[JvGinPDX]

I I had a shop in California rebuild the head. They mounted it in the vertical position. The repair shop I usually go to told me to remount the dist in the slanted position. I noted the direction the distributer vacuum housing was facing. I pulled the distributer out. Since my gasket was installed very recently, I just removed the 3 small bolts that hold the mounting on to the head. Then I just rotated the mounting and put it all back together.

[Joes924]

You can actually mount it in vert never seen that I took one off today though.