Stupid Distributor Question

[austex]

Okay, time for a stupid, stupid question. I have a franken-Z which I'm pretty sure has next to nothing stock. The body was made in April of '74, but...the head is a P79, the block is an N42, the manifold is an E88, the driveshaft is from a '71, etc. In other words, I have no idea what's original and what's not on this thing, other than what I just mentioned. I just bought it like 3 months ago.

Now, I was told that 74's came with electronic ignition stock. My stupid stupid question is, how can you tell? Because for all I know, the previous owner put in a distributor from a '71 or something. What do I look for that tells me, 'Hey, this is the stock distributor and not one from a '70! Guess I have electronic ignition!'?

Thanks for your time,

Josh

[Fun_in_my_z]

I could be wrong but i think the 260z had the points type dissy

[austex]

Yeah, that's what I thought too. I'm relatively new to this sort of thing. When I take off the cap, if it has electronic ignition, what should I see? Because I changed the rotor and the cap because they were...worn. The rotor rotates, and makes contact with the points. Right? Or am I missing something? That would mean it's not electronic?... Meh, stupid previous owner.

[Mat M]

If you took off the cap, and saw a mechanical lever operating a contact system, that means you have points. If you see a small "Chinese throwing star" type assembly, with no physical contact being made, then you have electronic ignition.

Also, and I may be wrong, but I think only electronic ignitions have a black box on the dizzy, roughly the size and shape of a Zippo lighter - called the module.

[austex]

Yes, once again, that's what I thought. So I'm not crazy, and my 74 does NOT have electronic ignition. Sheesh. I love the car but man it's frustrating sometimes.

Thanks!

[sblake01]

I'll tell you what. Open up the distributor, take off the rotor and post a picture of it like that. In post #3 you are referring to the contacts in the distributor cap as points based on what I infer from reading it. The points being reffered to here would be on the braker plate below the rotor. If someone put a 71 distributor in it, as you said in post #1, then it would have points. Bill, according to everything I've ever read and seen, the 74 260Z was the first USA S30 with electronic ignition. Mat, the matchbox distributor you speak of didn't show up here until 1979. The 74-78 electronic ignition had the module in the passenger footwell above the fuse box.

[austex]

Here ya go:

[sblake01]

Electronic.