Distributor: Description and Operation

Fig. 3 Breakerless distributor w/Hall transmitter:

The distributor, Fig. 3, houses the hall generator, baseplate, trigger wheel, dust shield, and the rotor. The distributor cap rests on top of the distributor housing and is secured by two spring clips.
The distributor has two purposes.
1. To control the primary ignition current.
2. To distribute the secondary voltage at the proper time to each of the spark plugs.
The ignition distributor is driven off of a gear on the back of the camshaft.