A friend recently bought  a '56 T-Bird. It as far as I know, has the original tach drive distributor..but the carb has been changed out to a Ford Autolite. He tells me it hesitates on take off & is also very hard starting when hot. I'm assuming that at least some of the problem is the all vacuum advance setup, which is not compatble with the later carb. What are his options? - Thanks


Paul

All Y blocks before 1957 used a Load-A-Matic distributor.  The Load-A-Matic system works in tandem with the carb and the distributor. Assuming the distributor in this engine is a Load-A-Matic, you have a mismatch that is causing the advance system to not work properly.  You could fix this by installing a correct 1956 carb and restoring the function of the Load-A-Matic system. A better solution is to upgrade your distributor to a 1957 or newer unit.  These distributors are getting scarce and pricey.  I see them on EBay for $200 once in a while and they probably need some work.  I have a 1957 distributor in my Y Block with a Holley 4V carb and it works great.  My distributor has a Pertronix module installed and I am using one of their coils as well.  There are all new distributors for a Y Block, but they want a fortune for them.  Beware of the rebuilt distributors that are sold through auto parts stores.  This forum has discussed this issue in depth if you want to learn more.

Another issue is the tach drive in your TBird.  1957 Tach drive distributors are a king's ransom if you can find one.   I fixed this issue by modifying a modern electric tach to fit in my dash.  I believe Casco makes one that fits right in without modification. 

Regarding the availability of 57+ Distributors. In the Classifieds about 2 Months ago there were 3 new Rebuilt correct Distributors offered by One Seller. I don't know if He sold any or all but at $130.00 each they were a Bargain. If shipping wasn't so expensive to Canada I would have been very tempted to buy at least One and put it away for possible future need. I have One NOS One I picked up on Ebay about 6 Months ago in my Spare Parts Stash which is not for Sale.

  

For drivabilty purposes, just needs a 1957 or newer distributor and cap installed.  The later model carburetor is incompatible with the earlier L-O-M (Load O Matic) distributor.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Paul2748 Just listed a FEK Distributor in the Classifieds. Looks like a good one with the Ball Bearing Plate.

  

Thanks guys, I get the gist of the situation. The hang up of all this is the 1956 T.Bird Tach drive distributor, vs the later carb. It's not a case of just installing a 57 or later Distributor, cause now the tack won't work.. I was hoping that some mod to the setup would be possible?  I guess the electric tach from Casco may be an option.  $$$ ?


Paul

The electric Tach I used in my TBrird came from Summit.  I believe it cost me about $50.  It's not a bolt in, but it wasn't that hard to fit it into the dash. I used the stock tach mounting can to hold it in.

Back in the '60s when I couldn't afford a new '57 Bird distributor, I grafted a '57 upper housing to the lower half of the Bird distributor, grafted the shafts, and now had a tach drive later distributor.  At the time I had access to a lathe, so it wasn't expensive.  It now has about 200,000 miles on it, so I guess it worked fine.  Only downside is that I destroyed a '56 Load-0-Matic to do it. 

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

For all of the posts about Y blocks, tech info, questions, issues, etc, this one on the carb/distributor mismatch and advance problems comes up all the time. It needs to be a sticky I think - maybe one of you vets could write up something good for us young guns? the nuance of the Tbird's tach drive certainly demands this thread's attention.

Daniel Jessup

Loveland, Ohio

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

 A great Example of that old Saying- "Necessity is the Mother of Invention".