Good to know you are sorted out. 
Good points about cost too, especially if your distributor is known to be in good condition. I went for the 123 because the distributor that came with my car had worn bearings with the resultant inconsistent timing. At some point my car had received a 1275 Metro high compression engine, but the dizzy (of unknown source and parentage) did not seem right for it. The engine (otherwise unmolested or unrefreshed) had been installed with the 998 manifold and a worn HS-4 carb and a very restrictive 998 exhaust system, which were all replaced with systems more appropriate for the engine. Not having access to or the financial resources for a dynanometer analysis and set-up, the 123 was the most economic and practical solution for me, despite its price, which has come down since I bought. Once I found the sweetest of the available curves, I was very happy with the results. It wasn't the curve that the selection data suggested, but something considerably different, which proves what Marcel Chichak (who was involved in developing the Mini application of the 123) wrote that the engine will tell you which one it likes best.
Maybe not race performance spec, but nothing on my car is.

There are many electronic options to the 123 or Pertronix.  

For example, I'm using the Luminition Optronic ignition, an infra-red optical trigger which is rock-stable up to 9000 rpm - though I haven't pushed it past 7K.  There are 2 different Optronic units available - for standard and competition.  The competition unit, good for 8K rpm allows for adjustable dwell angle and has protection should you forget to turn the key off.  Both units are rev-limiter compatible and I'm sure folks are tired of me mentioning how satisfied I am with it. 

There's also the Unipart electronic ignition, a very nice unit for the price and very popular in the UK.

If you just want a quality condenser, cap or rotor, they are available, though a bit more expensive than what's commonly available.  I posted the link to The Distributor Doctor earlier - he's having original quality condensers, rotors and caps manufactured to original spec. and I can also vouch for the quality of his distributor rebuild service. 

Oh, Swiftune sells a quality condenser also, though it's an externally mounted component.

thanks for the advice Malcolm.  I am currently using an aldon yellow vac/adv with a tailored curve for the 1380.  Maybe one day I can come off with the cash for a 123 however not until the price comes down on them.  No sense in replacing something that works for now.

Glad you got it sorted to your satisfaction.

The best "reasonably priced" electronic distributor imo is the factory one fitted to the later A+ Mini's 65DM4 which very rarely go bad and which you can source for probably less than half the price of the 123 distributors. As you have a 1380 if you have not already done so it would pay to have a distributor built and set up to your engine specs by a specialist.

Finally success!

Today I got my new set of points and condenser in from our host.  Im sad to say they look pretty inferior to the original from Lucas.  My guess is they are sourced from China.  Is there any real Lucas points/condensors still sold?  Anyway, I ditched the brown Bosch cap rotor and which was trashed and installed the points/condenser and the other cap and rotor I had which was giving me my erratic timing bounce.

I am amazed at what the difference is!  I got the point dwell dialed in at 50 degrees which is close enough for me and set the timing at 30 degrees BTDC @ 3500.  I took it out for a spin and the car pulled like a freight train. 

I thought it was too good to be true so I did several runs and rechecked timing and there was no change.  It was exactly where I set it.

I am convinced this was a faulty pertronix unit that failed within about 8 months and 3000 miles of use.  I know people are convinced that converting to electronic ignition brings about a sense of reliability however for me its not the case.  I will stick with points for now even if I have to set the dwell ever now and then.  I am pretty disappointed this happened because I like the idea of set and forget ignition but not at this expense.  I'm officially done scratching my head with this one.  Thanks for everyone's inputs!

Sincerely,
John

(psst.... which is what i suggested 2 days ago   )

so the assumption here is that the cap is not fitting all the way down, or maybe fitting cockeyed? 

If the hold-down screws or tabs are just holding the cap on loosely, not seated, and thus sitting high, then you would think (A) the center contact for the rotor might not touch, or (B) even if A exists in a mild form, the cockeyed cap creates 2 terminals sitting too high and therefore arcing, or (C) even if A exists in a mild form, the whole cap sits level but too high, and 2 of 4 terminals arc. Why only 2?

The cap should fit without forcing and sit level.  If you have an old cap, try that instead of a "new" one.  You shouldn't have to sand or file anything to fit.  That said, if this is a new, reproduction distributor body I would look for flaws around the area where the cap sits and bring them to the supplier's attention.  They may want to replace the unit or may authorize you to file away any burs, flash, or parting lines in the casting.

Personally, I would not go back to points because of this issue as the electronic module won't be responsible for what the cap is experiencing.  

 All,

Thanks for all the responses!  Last night I disassembled the whole distributor to be sure I didn't miss anything and did a series of checks. 

The centrifugal weights move freely but I lubed them any way. 
The shaft was not bent and moves freely
the rotor is fully seated and doesn't foul on the cap terminals when spun by hand.
The cap lines up perfectly with the vacuum advance tang
Rotating plate returns to original position when vacuum advance is pulled. 

One thing I did notice is the cap requires a little effort to get on and seems that that its slightly smaller.  Im not sure if this is a common occurrence with new aldon distributors but has anyone had to slightly sand the inside of there caps to make it fit?

Since everything seems to check out good, I am planning on changing out the cap and rotor as well as switching back to points and condenser this weekend and I will chime back in with the results.

Good points Dan.

In response to Harvey Lankford's post, I do see a slight cloud of discolouration at the 4 o'clock terminal and slightly less at the 8 o'clock one. Note also the gouge in the plastic at about 11:45 at the top - a mechanical scrape, not an arcing burn.

To Doug Lawson's post: A bent shaft would cause a strike on all 4 posts equally. A wobbly bearing might do that though.

My money is on the caps not seating level.
A couple of other measurements to check:
 - Do all 4 cap terminals protrude the same amount, as measured from the rim of the cap? Some might be longer and hang down too far?
 - in the photo. I can't see the registration key or slot - check to see that it isn't too long and not allowing the cap to sit down level.
.

Which is why I buy my caps and rotors from Martin Jay, The Distributor Doctor, in the UK.  Quality matters.

That said, after I installed my Luminition Optronic ignition, I needed to sand the base of the rotor and the top of the Luminition chopper down a just a tad in order for the rotor to seat fully on the spindle.  Worked a treat!

I don't know where these caps are coming from now (China?) but I have had trouble with fitment of new 45D caps.
A Lucas (black) one in the green box was worst, it had 1.5mm radial clearance.
Two other noname (brown) ones had 1.2mm radial clearance.
I fitted a new Powerspark module and rotor, and had to remove .020" from the rotor to clear the posts in the cap. Quality caps? Aaaaaargh!

If you are going to be pulling the distributor to examine it, I would like to suggest an additional test.

If you have a dial indicator, figure out a way to attach it to the distributor case.  Put the indicator tip on the round part of the distributor shaft where the rotor would normally be.  Slowly turn the dizzy drive dog while you watch the indicator.  If you see more than a few thousandths of an inch of needle swing it suggests a bent distributor shaft as Dan mentioned earlier.

123 distributor, this will fix it

I will check the advance plate just to be sure but from the looks of it seems like it's returning back to its nomal position.  The distributor was built by Aldon 6 months ago.

this is a long shot.....
did you use the same spark plug lead to make those timing measurements?

In your picture, the top two cap terminals have the arcing on the same side, suggesting that the firing is off the same direction on both, hence a big arc and burning. On the bottom two terminals there is no arcing discoloration, suggesting the timing there is on time, (although in time some will be seen there normally)

The rotor is not supposed to make actual contact with any of those terminals, so rather than implicating a mechanical scraping and arcing and rotor or cap not aligned, instead is the arcing suggesting that the timing of firing on two cylinders is , say, 10 degrees off? (This may be a stretch of facts, as normal timing with rpm or vacuum produce more than 10 degrees of change , and yet the rotor still fires its spark to the appropriate terminal) 

you could prove this possibility by doing your timing measurement with one spark plug lead, then the three others. They should all be the same. But if the two that use the top two terminals in your picture (with the arcing) measure, say, 10 degrees different than the other two, then you have proven an electrical glitch.

I do not have Pertronix or know about it or how they fail, but this test makes sense , eh Dan?

Do you have the VAC advance plate located correctly? or is the VAC unit bad causing it not to return to the neutral position? As for the burning on two contacts I'm not sure except maybe to check the indexing of the rotor? ie make sure that when the coil fires that the rotor is actually lined up with contacts? although i would have thought it would burn all four if that was the case..........But it's electrickery so you never really know..................

I tried a new cap and rotor and still had the same timing issue.

If the rotor was not fully seated, it would "hit" all the posts the same way. Same thing if the shaft was bent. The cap should clear the Pertronix. Is it actually the right one for the dizzy body and the Pertronix application?

Remove the dizzy from the car. Take it to a workbench and inspect it closely.
Seat the cap on as you had it in the car, rotor and everything in place. With a sharp tool, scribe the body of the dizzy in 4 places around the rim of the seated cap. Turn the shaft by hand to see if it turns smoothly. Remove cap and rotor. Inspect scribe marks to see that all 4 are exactly the same distance from the rim of the dizzy body. Replace cap (no rotor) and repeat the scribing and turning tests. See if the scribe marks are any different from the first set. Correct as necessary.

Inspecting Pertronix interference:
With a straight edge, measure how high the various Pertronix parts protrude above the rim of the dizzy body. Do the same for the cap to see what the difference is. If OK, measure the maximum rotation of the vacuum advance (if you have one) and mechanical advance. Mark the inside or rim of the dizzy body. Measure from the mark to a reference point, e.g. the alignment key for the cap.  Do the same for the cap.

Inspecting the car (a longer shot!): Maybe something under the bonnet (like a hose or oil cooler) is pushing or pulling on the cap when you close the bonnet or are driving and the motor mounts flex.

Ultimate solution: a 123 ignition system - no points, very well machined and built. The cap and rotor are very good quality and fit very well. Easy to time - it has 4 built-in timing lights: you turn the engine (ignition off) to top-dead-centre and turn the 123 until the led lights up. Done. 16 advance curves (programmed for Mini) to choose from.  Choice of vacuum advance or not - even the vac advance is electronic. One thing I like is that the timing  is actually at 0 (zero ) until the engine speed hits 500 rpm, making difficult starts very easy. The selected curve turns on at 500 rpm. Worth the money (to me anyway... and I'm on a tight budget, Mini-wise).