I have a 1981 datsun 1200 ute, i brought it about a year ago. i was told from the previous owner that the webber carb had for some reason gone out of tune, i took it in to get tuned right away! from what they figured the tune was fine, it was the vacuum advance in the distributor that had gone. so i contacted the bloke and found out that when he installed the petronix electronic ignition it came with a distributor converter from points to electronic. from what i have figured is that the conversion kit has obviously cooked its #OOPS#. it still drives but lots of lag on low rpms.... i want it fixed but im not sure what i need to do, can i buy an electronic distributor to fit?
Cheers :)

Get another pertronics kit. Pull the distributor apart and lube up the advance mechanisms. Apply vaccum (suck on the hose going to distributor. The guts inside should rotate. Look up distributor advance on youtube to learn how distributors work.

Cheers dude il
Give that a try :)

Pertronix kit does not affect the vacuum advance in any way. It is not connected to it.

If the vacuum advance is leaking, then just plug the hose -- it will run OK again after that. There is a small low-throttle-opening advantage if you then obtain a new vacuum advance. But the engine will run pretty good with the hose plugged, it will have 100% of the power at mid-throttle to full throttle with the hose plugged.

I don't know if it was actually leaking, from what the mechanics told me the vacuum was completely dysfunctional. If I could source another distributer with the points system could I possibly use the vacuum
Advance out of that?

It is very common for the vacuum advance rubber to crack, and then it causes a vacuum leak. It will still run perfect at heavy throttle, but at light throttle the leak causes the engine to stumble and run lean. Hence, plug the hose. The A12 does not need working vacuum advance to run OK. But the leak must be stopped.

Yes, you can replace the entire distributor, or just the advance unit.

So a mate helped me plug it and I advanced it a tad, seems to be running fine thanks for the info guys! Cheers

All right, glad to hear!