The Stovebolt.com Forums Home | Tech Tips | Gallery | FAQ | Events | Features | Search
9 - 11 Memorials

Searching the Site - a click away
click here to search
New here ??? Where to start?
Click on image for the lowdown. Where do I go around here?
====
Who's Online Now
2 members (ShopRag, DaveV), 97 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics128,024
Posts1,055,395
Members48,422
Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026
Step-by-step instructions for pictures in the forums
Brad Allen's photos

AD Chevy Trucks

Pictures galore
Over 6,000 pictures

Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips.

Check them out!

Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!

Big Thanks!

THANKS!

For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for

over 30 years!

and not clogged down
with Ads!


Again, thanks!

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#797279 11/12/2011 5:14 PM
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 12
T
New Guy
New Guy
T Offline
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: 29,747
H
Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer)
Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer)
H Online: Content
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 29,747
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
T
New Guy
New Guy
T Offline
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 12
Have one now I just rebuilt. Just looking for a spare. Thanks

TruckOn #797955 11/14/2011 11:08 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,464
W
Shop Shark
Shop Shark
W Offline
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: 29,747
H
Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer)
Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer)
H Online: Content
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 29,747
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!
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 29,269
Bubba - Curmudgeon
Bubba - Curmudgeon
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 29,269

As is often the case when changes were made around 1953-55, a simple statement that the steel gear changed to the cast-iron gear in 1954 is not completely correct. One has to be careful - people have posted photos of the two gears (Pre '68 Dave?) and that is the best way to be certain of the gear used on a 53-54 distributor.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_57chevyparts/57cmpc0222.htm

http://1954advance-design.com/Web%20images/216-235-261-cams/


Moderated by  Jon G, Rusty Rod 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Home | FAQ | Gallery | Tech Tips | Events | Features | Search | Hoo-Ya Shop
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0