Electronics have made huge strides, all vehicles now (as far as i know) have electronic ignition, and are computer controlled.

And now, the answer to my question !!

I have been talking to John, Customer Service at PerTronix, and he has imparted the following information.
Below is part of the correspondence i have had from him..

If you were to put your distributor number into our online Ignitor kit look-up it will not show an Ignitor III listing. We have done some further investigation concerning this distributor. Some of the findings I'm sure some of the folks on the Y-block forums you participate in already know but here goes. The FEH-12127-A and A2 (typically the "2" represents an engineering change), along with the FEK-12127 are all identical, save for some minor external casting changes. The A2 is the most common. There is also an FEJ-12127 which is 1957 Thunderbird Only as it is a Tach Drive distributor. This distributor was not a 1 year only, it was used from 1957 through 1959. Late in ’59 they switched to a hinged advance plate (single pivot pin) and the part numbers became B9AF 12127 (Car) or B9TF-12127 (truck) and that style continued through 1964 (although the part number changed each year for advance curves), the Last year of the Y-Block. All of the 57-64 Y-Block distributors use the same points, condenser , rotor and cap, which are the same as pretty much ALL Fords from 57-75 289-302, 351W, 351C, 429-460, FE etc.

Sorry for the confusion…

Customer Service

Interesting that the advance curves changed each year.


South Australia

Slick, yes I think we can all agree the the points are the same in all '57 up distributors and the Pert I and II will work in them. The problem, for me anyway, is the Pert III will not work in the early "57 up distributor (the one with the straight advance arm, bearing advance plate) because the Pert III replaces the whole advance plate, thus only fitting in the latter '57 up distributors with bent advance arm.

Pert I and II will work in the distributor, Pert III will not.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL