Blown Rotor on 050 Bosch dizzy, Resistor blown on rotor - why? Options

[Gatornapper]

Fellow 914'ers -

Two years ago Brandt sold me a great and rare 050 dizzy that instantly made my old 2.0 run better than ever.

I've run it hard for 4,000 miles with no problem. I have run an MSD in the car since it had one when I got it, but I did replace it with a new one a few months ago.

The old cap showed wear so I put in the new cap when I installed the 050, but the rotor looked good so I used it.

Engine died suddenly and wouldn't start last Saturday (27th) and I found this:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1638838169.1.JPG)

Resistor in the rotor blown to smithereens. After 2 years and 4k miles.

Thankfully is was an old rotor that came in the dizzy, but Brandt also included a new cap and rotor - both hard to find. So the new rotor will go in tomorrow. Cap looks fine.

My question is: what blew this rotor? Was it the MSD? Is the MSD voltage too high for this rotor? Or was it just old and had lived out its life?

Due to the uniqueness of the 050, I'm pretty certain a rotor w/o the resistor cannot be found.

Thoughts from the braintrust are greatly appreciated.

Thinking of soldering in a wire where resistor was tho I'm not sure it can take the heat. Also will carry a spare rotor with me in the car.

GN

[Retroracer]

Over a standard 12V spark gap and coil system, the MSD will present a much higher voltage to the primary side of the coil, as well as multiple spark events (CDI) for each firing - stressing that resistor MUCH more than it was probably designed for.

Interesting, I've never see a resistor integrated into the rotor before. If it was me, I'd solder a link over to see if it still functioned (the MSD will be fine and the spark plugs won't care. A wire link won't get hot as there's very little resistance to dissipate any power!), but as pointed out earlier, those cracks in the rotor insulation are an indication that it is not long for this earth...

FWIW,

- Tony