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| | | | Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 12 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 12 | Need dist 59 Apache trk, (57 235 eng). Going junkyarding. What all year models will work? I want to stay with points. Thanks to all... | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,748 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,748 | Any 54-62 235 distributor will work, as long as the drive gear matches the camshaft. Some engines used cast iron gears, others had steel. Someone should be along shortly to give you specifics about what years will be a drop-in match. The 216 distributors (pre-1954) will bolt in, but the centrifugal and vacuum advance might not be exactly right for your engine. There are at least two different heights of distributor caps and rotors. I think they will interchange as long as both items are used together. The later models had the taller cap. Do you have a distributor now, or are you looking to fill an empty hole?
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 12 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 12 | Have one now I just rebuilt. Just looking for a spare. Thanks | | | | | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 | Starting with the '54 'glide engines all 235's and 261's use a cast iron cam and the distributor gear also needs to be cast iron. Prior to this, the 235's and 216's used steel cams and distributor gears. You can use any distributor as long as you change the gear to match.
A steel gear is hard to scratch using a small file while the cast gear is fairly easy to scratch. Another way to tell is to look at the shank under the gear, if there is a groove there it is cast, no groove and it's steel. By the way, you can use a cast gear on a steel cam, but you can't use a steel gear on a cast cam. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,748 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,748 | Thanks, Waldo! I knew there was a specific year range, but I was not sure where the break happened. On the racing scene, we had to use a bronze distributor gear on certain types of roller cams to prevent cam damage.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
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