Thanks to the help found here, I was finally able to extract a used distributor yesterday and replace mine--whose Hall sender has sent its last.

New problem is distributor alignment. Following the Bentley instructions, I aligned the rotor with the notch on the housing. But it seemed a lot further than 30 degrees right to the spring clip! And upon installation, the rotor only comes back left about 30 degrees. It is NOT aligned with the notch, as the book says it should be. The car starts, but runs terribly. I can't begin to time it, as the mark on the crankshaft is nowhere near the pointer! Rotating the distributor, in either direction, does nothing to smooth it out. It just up and dies.

I've missed the proper spot by several degrees. But I don't understand how.

Looking at my old distributor, I'm seeing a line on the hold-down bracket. It's about 30 degrees left of the spring clip. Is this the "notch on the housing" that Bentley is talking about? The illustration in Bentley is the vacuum advance unit, without Hall sender. Am I aiming at the wrong spring clip?

I really don't want to tow what must be a simple issue to my mechanic. Can anyone tell me what I've done wrong? It's a stock B230F with LH 2.2; used distributor is an exact match. Thanks very much,

Brendan.