Well I guess that it was more unexpected than strange. I bought a complete set of brand new parts to build a 652 ccs which was quite an exciting prospect. As I was packing away the bits to keep them warm & safe I noticed the lack of a hole to mount the distributor

The crankcase does not even have an engine number stamped on it.
I do not want to go down the late type ignition route as I already have a number of new distributors & electronic ignition kits.
The crankcase would be a good basis if anyone was planning to build an engine for a late import model.