I have just done it on my car. No need to remove dizzy at all. Proceed as follows:

1. remove HT leads, it is important to clear the space.
2. remove dizzy cay (3 captive screws, but have a magnet on a stick handy as they might not be captive any more)
3. remove the rotor, CAREFULLY rock it with one hand on each end, it may be tight but it will come off. Do NOT force it, do NOT pull it up, just rock nit back and forth and eventually it will come off.
4. remove the flash shield (flat plastic semi transparent cover) under the rotor. If it is still there, the tiny screws are NOT captive. to replace them use blu-tack to hold them in the screwdriver and have that magnet ready!
5. you can now see the star wheel (the 12 point rotor). This is what, as it goes past the magnetic pickup triggers the spark, by something called the Hall effect, which you can google.
6. round the spindle, above the star wheel is a circlip, this has to be expanded with opening circlip pliers and carefully removed from the spindle. Keep it safe and ensure when removing it that it does not spring off into the garage/engine etc.
7. the star wheel is locked to the rotor by a U shaped spring clip that runs between the two. Take a pair of long nosed pliers and carefully grip it vertically from above enough to just release it and pull it up from its groove. Do NOT lose it, as soon as it is off, still holding the pliers carefully gripping it, place it in a jar and put the top on. Holding a rag round it and the plier nose as soon as it is free from the groove is a good plan
8. Now the star wheel can be carefully pulled up of the spindle. It is a delicate, brittle item, do not drop it or lever it, fingers only. Take however much time you need. Wrap it in tissue and place it carefully somewhere safe.
9. below the star wheel is a wavy washer, place it with the star wheel.
10. Now you can see the base plate clearly. It is secured by two brass screws to the dizzy body. Undo these noting CAREFULLY where exactly the base plate is located and exactly where the brass screws go and through which parts of the base plate. A photo is a good idea. Note that brass crews cannot be picked up by a magnet, so loosen them and then remove by hand. Replacing them using blu -tack to hold them to the screwdriver is a good plan.
11. You will see that part of the base plate, a vertical peg pointing downwards, locates into a round hole on the end of the actuating arm of the vacuum advance capsule that sticks into the dizzy base from the rear. This MUST be relocated there when refitting the new base plate. This is not hard to do.
12. BUT it is highly likely that your vac capsule will be toast! If you can move the arm in and out of it easily, it is. If so, now is the time to fit a new one, as it is very easy to do, base plate out. If yours is toast, post again, and proceed no further with the base plate renewal.
13. Now, you will see the old base plate is held into the dizzy base only by the plug going through the forward side. Wiggle this out and remove the old base plate.
14. pass the new plug through the hole and locate the hole-shaped rubber fixing on the wires into the dizzy hole. This can be best done by getting the bottom part in properly, then carefully squeezing the top part into place with some grips, being careful to not crush the wires themselves. You will sense the rubber protrusions go into place and lock the thing into the dizzy body.
15. now, place the new base plate in its correct location , ensure you have located the peg on the bottom into the vac capsule arm, and VERY carefully insert each brass of the two brass fixing screws in place using your fingers if small enough or blu tack to hold them onto the screwdriver.
16. Then work back up in reverse!

 

Brilliant Greg.

Sooooo simple.

 

I really appreciate all of the information and love Grant's response to Greg. I'll see if my 1st new wire repair works first after practicing a lot (any info on best type, size wire, seem rubbery? Have new connectors and heat sheaths thanks to Greg!) then I'll proceed to replacing base if necessary. After reading Greg's response a couple times I stopped having heart palpitations lol and it starts making sense, so really appreciate all that information!

 

Hello just wanted to know if there are any other coolant hose kits out there that include new clamps. I'm still waiting for SNG Barratt kit on backorder and Moss has a kit but then you need to pick out every clamp. I see hoses from China on Ebay from "Euro" but sounds like a risky proposition. I also see that using the "jubilee" or worm style clamps is asking for trouble due to overtigntening. Anyway just received the right soldering gun/flux to repair the distributor base and received 12 gauge wire which really seems like overkill so I'll order some 16 gauge as well. Can't wait until I can walk into an auto parts store again.

 

Dont know a kit with clamps.

I have always had a LARGE selection of hose clamps, from day #1 of car ownership.

I use Tridon Worm Drive and Common Sense for firmness. Just nip them up firm.

BUT

Pay more attention than anything else as to the orientation of the clamps. Sounds silly, I know. You WILL need to get at those clamps after 2 hours running time, to nip them up JUST FIRM again. Then once more after a weeks running.
If the clamps are not orientated to allow this, you are screwed.

Overtightening, that is purely the operator not paying attention.

 

That will get me going. I figured I should be replacing all hoses since almost 13 years since all replaced with new heater core. Although only 2K miles since then and look new lol. I kept reading about everyone's different opinion on which clamps to use. I needed to hear about owner error since some blaming certain clamps for causing overheating issues. Definitely will position new clamps so I can adjust them more easily. Thanks again! Dave