RichD14

It seems to be hit or miss with this. Curious what distributors people have found to work without issues (and also fit the right hole arrangement for the block off plates). My original OEM Honda distributor for my ITR had an issue with the Cam position sensor and started causing breakups. Now I have a Duralast one and haven't had a single issue, but it doesn't fit my SFR billet block off plate.

Has anyone has any experiences with distributors off ebay running the COP conversion? Obviously the only thing I'm concerned about is the cam position sensor and internal shaft being reliable since I'm not using a coil or ignitor. Just not trying to have any more issues and don't want to go through distributor after distributor.

Thanks,

Pepe14

What ems are you using?

RichD14

Hondata S300, but already ruled that out because when I swapped the distributor with my friends, it works without issues. I went and got a Duralast one, no issues with that either, but didn't fit my SFR billet block off plate.

I've heard some of the cheap ebay ones work fine but also heard a lot of them have issues. Too many options.

DaX

iTrader: (1)

I've had good luck with Duralast Gold brand. Can you find where the cover is hitting? If it's a small casting burr or something like that, you could probably grind it down (on the distributor housing side...not the cover side).

JRCivic1

Remember that the GSR/ITR distributor cap is slightly WIDER between the two bolt holes along the top flat edge of the distributor... and the B16A and LS caps are slightly narrower. OP, if you bought the SFR cap cover for your original ITR distributor, and now you have a generic parts-store distributor, it is likely the smaller housing size (regardless of what the vendor say it fits - the B16A distributor fits the ITR head) and thus, your cap is too big.

RichD14

Duralast is good no issues with it, it's just that the bolt holes themselves are in slightly different places for the block off plates (I have the SFR one but should all be the same). I would have to drill the top 2 holes in on the block off plate to make it fit, and even if that worked not sure if the rest would line up slightly off.

RichD14

Yeah that's the problem, some aftermarket are OE Spec and some aren't, but there's too many options. Also I've heard some completely different feedback on aftermarket distributors and COP experiences but no specific ones.

Also I'm turbo so don't want to put anything too bad on it. It was weird I never had an issue but right after I went Turbo/cop conversion and tuned the OEM distributor went out. Seems strange because the only part doing anything is the cam position part. The main reason I switched over was to not have distributor issues so much for that.

JR that's possible, I noticed on the Speedfactory website that the GSR/ITR plate have the same part number, and there's another part number for the B16 and LS. Maybe Duralast sells the GSR distributor with the B16 size cap...
Only weird thing is Duralast's OBD1 cap is different than their OBD2 cap and neither fits the block off plate, so it could be totally random.

I might have to just wing it and order an ebay one shot in the dark I guess.

Speedfactory for example lists out the 2 variants and which ones they fit: Specific Distributor Cap Delete Fitments

SF-02-082
B16, B18A/B (LS), D15, D16, (OEM Part Numbers TD41U, TD42U, TD44U, TD46U, TD55U, TD61U, TD73U, TD74U, TD81U)


SF-02-083
USDM / JDM B18C/C1/C5 (GSR/TypeR) (OEM Part Numbers TD86U, TD87U, TD68U)

Pepe14

If all youre doing is buying these distributors for the cyp anc ckp sensors why dont you just swap those over? Im thinking its a wiring issue in your distributor somewhere

RichD14

I was thinking that originally but couldn't find where to buy replacement sensors on a part that old. Was hoping just to find an OE spec aftermarket one that people use and don't have issues with on COP. Especially since the coil and igniter don't matter.

Didn't really think it was a wiring issue because it used to work until one day just started having an issue, but could have been who knows. Also don't know if there could be an internal issue with it. It went from running perfectly smooth to backfiring like crazy. With the Duralast one it runs fine all the time, just doesn't fit the caps so figured I would keep it as a backup and find a common one people have had experience with. Just can't stand the look of open distributor plugs in the engine bay. After a few years started to get on my nerves IDK maybe OCD.

With my luck if I switched the Duralast parts into the OEM one I'd probably end up with zero working distributors lol.

wunfstgsr

Sell that and go with a digi dizzy!

DigiDizzy - SpeedREVival

B00STD

Very very tempting, but a little scary to invest in 1 with it being a 1 man shop. If he goes out of business you’ll have a $700 potentially worthless distributor if it has issues. I’m rooting for him though, it’s priced the same as an original new OEM distributor and looks good, I may end up getting one myself eventually but I’m kinda sitting on the sidelines waiting for feedback and longevity reports first.

wunfstgsr

He has lots of reviews and satisfied customers! I've chatted with him myself on a sub harness for gauges I'm trying to fabricate he might help me design.

I like how easy it is to set the timing!

liam821

$700 goes a long way towards a good aftermarket ecu such as a Fueltech, Link, MaxxECU, etc which will do proper COP/e-throttle etc.

wunfstgsr

none of those EMS systems will come with a full COP conversion.

RichD14

Bringing this back to life here. So if was starting from scratch maybe I'd go with another cop setup, but at this point everything is setup and runs perfect as long as I'm using a distributor that works well with it.

I went though the wiring didn't see anything that looked out of place.

So to recap my first OEM one went out shortly after the conversion. One day it started breaking up and a few days later wouldn't even start.
Barrowed a friends OEM GSR one he used for COIL on plug and worked without issues.
Bought a Duralast one that worked without issues, but doesn't fit the block off plate.
Bought another aftermarket GSR one that did fit the block off plate but the car wouldn't even start. Just crank and nothing and after about 5-7 seconds would backfire.
I went through the wiring and everything looked correctly setup (Same as in the Burton Racing COP video on Youtube). Really not much to it, just removing the unused parts and wires. With mine that works fine I just have the Coil and rotor removed with the hot wire wrapped. Didn't even remove all the wires.

Anyways, this is so commonly done I'm sure someone has to have some experience with some aftermarket ones that don't have issues.

I emailed Speedfactory and they said they've found ones right off Ebay / Amazon that work fine. Hondata on the other hand says they only recommend OEM. Kinda of ridiculous since these are all decades old now.

Since the coil, rotor, and igniter are no longer being used it seems like there should be plenty of options. I'm still confused on why some distributors don't seem to like this conversion, yet some people seem to never have an issue.

RichD14

So noticed a lot of the aftermarket distributors list both GSR and B16 part numbers and sell the same distributor for both. I have seen an aftermarket one that is GSR spec housing, but I THINK you're correct and most of them are using the B16/LS cap size since it is more common.

I ordered a B16A Block off plate for this and found that it was so close to fitting the GSR Duralast Gold Distributor (ALMOST prefect fit) that it only took a few minutes to drill in the holes slightly towards each other including the bottom cap bolt slightly up towards the center and it fits. Very mild modification of just a few mm, can't even tell by looking at it.

Also, Speedfactory said another option is the O'Reilly auto parts remanufactured distributors and they use OEM spec parts.

Neither one of them is a cheap option but it's something that works.

mcorley187

Not trying to thread jack but you’ve definitely made it through with the coil on plug kit. I have just purchased a hondarulez cop mini. Got it installed into my ecu. Went to wire it up and it’ll run great then throw a 15 code. You think you could help me out possibly? I’ve went back over everything on my end and can’t figure it out to save my life. Also I had to get the SFR b16 cap because the same thing happened to me. I purchased an aftermarket 1998 Gsr distributor from the parts house but when I put the gsr cap on it was a little wide. I swapped for the b16 one and it lined up perfectly. I thought I would need the gsr one but that wasn’t the case.

RichD14

I don't know on that specific setup, but check your ground, and make sure you don't have a hot wire touching anything in the distributor if you removed the coil and rotor but not the igniter. You can either shrink wrap it/cut it or just remove the unused parts and unpin the wires to go the safest route. If you do remove the wires, it's best to put some kind of sealant if your car sees rain just to make sure no moisture gets in. What does code 15 correspond with? The first time I had the issue I checked literally everything but the distributor, not thinking that would be it since not many parts were being used in it anymore, but of course, that was it. Swapped it with a friends GSR Dist and ran perfect.