Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes => Topic started by: Tom in seattle on June 13, 2017, 05:59:04
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In my perusal of member profiles I see that some say they have swapped in a 300 distributor to their SLs. What's this about, are we talking about a dual plug head or something? I've put in a Pertronix type (non points) system which works great. What is the 300 system?
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It's a dual point distributor. Hard to find one in good condition and probably not worth worrying about if your current system is working well.
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I'd jump in here and make a case for the 1-2-3 distributor setup. Made a world of difference in my '69 280SL..
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.../... the 1-2-3 distributor setup. Made a world of difference in my '69 280SL..
Lots of info to be found if you search this site; for instance:
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=17550.msg121676#msg121676 (https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=17550.msg121676#msg121676)
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I've been running a 300SE distributor in my car for many years. It is dual point but has some unique functions not found in most dual point units. In this case, the cam lobe shaft only has thee lobes on it and the points are set 180 degrees opposite each other. Each set of points feeds three cylinders and they alternate back and forth as the distributor turns. One set feeds 1, 3 and 5 cylinders while the other set feeds 2, 4 and 6.
On normal single point units, you will get about a 38 degree dwell angle, or in this case, the points would be closed roughly 230 degrees in a 360 degree circle of rotation. On the 300 SE, the points overlap each other slightly as they open and close so the dwell angle is increased to 52 degrees. This will give you a much longer coil saturation time and a resulting hotter spark. Another advantage of a 300SE distributor is that each set of points opens half as often as a single point unit so they last twice as long. I might need to replace them every 10 years of running.
This unit uses vacuum advance so you would need a throttle body from a 230SL. I use a BMW distributor cap instead of the 300SE cap as they are VERY costly. Next to the ultra exotic 300SL dual point, dual coil unit, this is one of the most advanced distributors available for 6 cylinder engines and represents cutting edge tech at the time.