Water Proofing

If your vehicle is a petrol-engined model and you expect to drive through water, do apply some waterproofing to the distributor and coil. I am assuming that your distributor cap and leads are clean to start with. Lift the cap off; apply a one-millimetre diameter bead of silicone grease to the rebate, under the edge of the cap, which locates down onto the main distributor body. Apply too much and it will squeeze out inside on to the rotor arm and contacts - so be careful. Replace the cap squarely and refasten clips. Should there be any gaps surrounding the high-tension cables, either in the distributor cap or coil, then seal these with silicone grease.

On later Efi engines, the high-tension connection into the centre of the distributor cap is a two-piece affair. Carefully seal the joint up between these two sections. To help apply the grease, obtain an injection syringe - you don't need the needle! Finish off by spraying aerosol silicone grease over the outside of the distributor cap, all leads, coil and plug covers. Old leads tend to become porous so spray them to help prevent problems.

I recommend that you finally cover the distributor cap with an upturned bottom half of a plastic bottle, and in the case of a V8, use a larger bottle. It can be shaped with a pair of scissors so it sits neatly over the HT leads.

This outer cover for the distributor cap not only sheds water away from the bakerlite cover, but also stops condensation from forming inside, which nearly always happens when you dunk a hot engine into cold water. Secure this new cover with a long cable tie. If you really want to go to town, fit orange waterproofing cable glands over the plug caps, which seal very nicely over the hexagon nut of the plugs themselves.

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