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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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Need 57or later distributor or msd,or unilite or something better than the stock 55 I have in my 292. eadgpdhome@msn.com thanks
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By oldcarmark - 17 Years Ago
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YOU MIGHT TRY AUTOZONE.They list the distributors as an exchange unit online.Whether they can actually supply them is another question.What will you do with your Petronix unit.They are different for the later distributors?
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey 55; I got a late distributor from Autozone, only about $60.00 including core charge. I did not have the old one because of it being a 55 Dist. Put in a petronics with their flamethrower coil, and has worked great. Hope this helps God Bless! Eddie Lake Forest, Ca. 92630
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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When I installed the petronix unit in my 55 they didnt make a 6v unit. My bird was switched to 12v so I bought a 12 v unit and installed it in my distributor. Autozone lists the same part number for 55 56 and 57 distributor. Is it gonna work?
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By PWH42 - 17 Years Ago
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I believe the shaft size is different between the 57 and 56 distributors,so the Pertronix unit is not interchangable.If your's is in 55/56 dist.,it won't work in a 57or newer dist.
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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The petronix I installed was for a 57. I had to do a little mod on it to get it to install. been working fine for about 8 years.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Birdman: If this distributor is for a Bird, the ones mentioned above will not have the tach drive. '57 T-Birds were the only ones with factory tach drive and mechanical advance. John in Selma, IN
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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mine has a tach drive. How do I know what year it is? Any ID or anything. maybe it is a 57
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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If your distributor has tach drive - and doesn't have a "dual advance" vacuum pot hanging on there ------- meaning the one with the two piggyback cans and two ports for the old teapot carb -----it would likely be from a 57. I believe a 55 or 56 tach drive would have the double can. I think the 57's had a "ball bearing" point plate pivot too. The "single advance" style vacuum pot (57 and later) will have a hex nut on the nose (where the vacuum port enters). If you dismantle this nut- there are shims under there to preload the spring and change the rate of vacuum advance per inch of Hg. If you put in a lot of initial advance (12°-14°) at idle - and don't limit the total centrifugal - it is possible to mechanically "over advance" the spark at elevated revs. Even if you limit it (36°-38° would be a good maximum) the vacuum pot might add enough at cruise to cause a knock. So ----- adding shims to the vacuum pot is a way to cut back on how much advance it can add on to the total at elevated vacuum.
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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Thanks for the info. I looked on mummerts site and found that the vacuum advance arm is straight on the 57. but the serial number isnt the same as listed. Mine is model FF17E. which is in no way what mummert has. But I do have shims and all the other visuals he describes as 57. so I will go with the assumption that mine is 57. Thanks for the info .
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Birdman: The bowl part of a '54-'56 distributor is about 1" deep. The '57 and later are closer to 1 1/2" deep. The cap diameter is smaller on the early one, but I don't have the numbers in front of me. If you need them, let me know, I'll measure them. John in Selma, IN
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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Mine is 1 1/2" deep bowl. But I pulled cap and vacuum arm is straight as Mummert says but the model #s are no where near what he says. Mine say Niehoff & Cp Model FF17E. Never heard of it. After market maybe? I have had this car a long time with this distributor in it. I am not sure. Thanks for the input
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By paul2748 - 17 Years Ago
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I believe that the 55 Bird tach drive dizzys had only a single vacuum can. The best way I know how to tell the distributors apart is the inside. The 56 and 55 ones had a spring located topside of the point plate. 57's did not.. Cap size is also different, but without then side by side you may not be able to tell the difference.
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By 55Birdman - 17 Years Ago
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Crazy aint it?
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By oldcarmark - 17 Years Ago
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Does your current unit have wights and springs under the breaker plate?If it does than it is at least a 57 distributor which means if you disable the vacuum advance(why I dont know)the car will still run off idle but not well until you have enough RPM for the centrifugal to kick in.I am still unclear as to what you are trying to accomplish with this idea.On the side of distributor housing there is a number stamped into it part of which is 12127 with numbers and letters before and after.If you post those #s someone can ID the distributor origin.
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