I have a stock 1957 Ford distributor with a Pertronix unit in my 292.  I would like to replace it with a full centrifugal advance distributor with an adjustable advance curve.  Did anyone ever make such a thing?   What are my options?

NICE. Thanks.
What was the method for locating the roll pin slot and the holes in the breaker plate?
With the Autolite distributors getting real scarce, this is a great way to convert a better designed ball bearing plate dist. to a magnetic pickup (if you have access to a lathe)!

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I think any Ford Duraspark era shop manual covers phasing of the pole piece and reluctor with the #1 distributor cap tower. That makes utilizing the breaker plate real estate rather cut & dry. If I can remember correctly, I only needed to drill and tap one hole for the modified pickup coil base/bracket.  I also drilled/taped another to secure the bonding wire. Like, was able to utilize one of the existing breaker point threaded holes too.  The ball bearing plate lent itself very well for this conversion not only because it rotates in a true arc but also for it's flat surface.  The reluctor slips over the existing distributor cam and the "paddles" hang down surrounding the cam like a spider with a captured fly. A felt pen marks where the #1 tower is on the dist. rim and with the rotor in place, the parts can be positioned for proper phasing. Then mark the dist. cam where the roll pin needs to be from the slot in the reluctor bore and cut the slot there. The holes are slightly oversized in the pickup coil to allow for tweaking before tightening the two screws. The shim washers elevate the coil to better match the height of the reluctor. Because the reluctor will raise the rotor up, I sanded the open end of the rotor enough to allow it to firmly seat on the can thus engaging the rotor key slot. This doesn't affect the rotor at all. You may ask: Why is he doing all this?  I find the Duraspark mag trigger is the most precise trigger out there. It produces a usable clean signal at a much slower cranking speed than the Pertronix device. It will allow the use of a MSD box and it's matching coil. It is also very concentric meaning every trigger event is exactly the same. On an oscilloscope, the pattern is rock solid with no jittery oscillations in cadence with distributor RPM. Not only does the engine start at the touch of the key but the idle is very smooth. I have another distributor equipped with Pertronix and I can notice these differences. Very minor and probably insignificant but if something can be improved upon, then why not? With the MSD box the exhaust smell is also improved. I've been running this setup for a couple years now and IMO, found ti to be the best. There are probably several items I forgot to mention but if brought to my attention, I will try to do my best. I haven't touched on the electrical part of this but MSD supplies the basic schemes for this setup. Hope this helps, JEFF..............  I have to ask:  There may be a simpler way to secure the reluctor to the existing cam other than cutting a slot for a roll pin. There is practally no torque/force on it but at the same time, it CAN'T be allowed to slip. One other aspect of this conversion is I can easily go back to Pertronix, points or? anytime.


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I should have added that a Pertronix will trigger an MSD box also but for reasons stated above, I found the magnetic device to be more precise at a slower speed.


64F100 57FAIRLANE500

Thanks much for taking the time to share that info. It's a great solution.
 I personally never thought much of the tiny reluctor of the pertronix, your comments about a smooth more stable signal with the Motorcraft unit confirm this.

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