Marelli Distributor Chart

I was at a garage tour at Carlos Durante's Alfa of Tacoma a couple of weeks ago. On the wall was a picture and write-up of the Marelli distributor used in most Ferrari V-12 engines. It gives quite a bit of detail that can't be seen in the parts diagrams.

Lower support
Weight returning spring
Cam guide fork
Centrifugal weight
Drive shaft
Ball bearing
Weight carrier housing
Flange support
Breaker carrier plate
Contact gap adjustment cams
Breaker
Distributor body
Cam
Ball bearing
Ignition cable socket
Peripheral sector
Distributor comb
Noise suppression resistor
Cap
Brush
? arm (rotor)
Upper support
Breaker arm
Contact carrier brackets
L. T. terminal
Condenser

Primary winding
Secondary winding
Wire resistor
Metal cup
Insulating bottom plate
Magnetic skirt
Insulating paper
Bracket
Insulating coil
Magnetic core
Current carrier spring
L. T. terminal
H. T. sockets
Insulating cap

L. T. - Low Tension (12v)
H. T. - High Tension (Spark)

The bottom of the chart has a section on operation and the automatic advance device. However, I'm sorry to say that my picture wasn't clear enough for me to read that information. I do expect to be back down there in a month or two, so I'll take better pictures and update this page then.

Carlos used this chart during his tech talk to point out the weights and springs in the bottom of the distributor. These frequently have old gunked up grease on them and this prevents the automatic advance from working properly. The test is to watch the advance using a timing light while advancing the throttle to make sure that it's even (doesn't suddenly jump during RPM increase) and that the total advance is correct at 5000-6000 RPM.