coombed

Hi all, I have a 2.25 petrol 109 of which runs really hot and often into the red (of which I then pull over and wait for it to cool down). Because of this, I rarely take it out as it's a risk of being stranded and broken down . I have checked the timing, flushed the cooling system, changed the oil etc of which I am happy it all seems as it should. The previous owner told me that I might want to "change the distributor" because it "was an old unit they had laying around and is worn out". Unless I have missed something in my many years of playing with Land Rovers, this makes no sense to me. Is there any correlation between a distributor being "worn out" and the running temps of an engine? Do dizzys even wear out? Thanks Duncan