i have a 1976 f600 with a 361 ft industrial engine and it has a governed distributor with tach drive and all the bushings are very worn i want to know if anyone knows if a electronic distributor will work from a donner f150 with a 390 fe elec distributor im told that fe & ft engines are not all the same i just wonder if cam position and gear configuration/oil pump drive are campatable any info would be greatly appreciated
thanks gary

 

the FE distrbutor wont readily work, the oil pump driveshaft on a FT is 5/16th and a FE is 1/4" and there is a internal difference in the block that is bigger, as far as where it would go, yeah it would fit because FT blocks can be used for FE's. I'd call around to several of the big distributor manufacturers and see which one makes a FT distributor, I know someone makes one, I just cant remember who right now, I want to say MSD or mallory though

 

Ron Miller at ford power parts sells ford duraspark distributers for the FE that have the bigger FT shaft on the inside. Can you find a local shop that rebuilds distributers? Maybe they can put the FT shaft in an FE housing for you. Ford power parts is in southern california, where are you? DF

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-Apr-01 AT 06:12 PM (EST)[/font][p]thanks for the info i found a rebuilt distributor company that lists the old one (hopefully instock) cardone a1a it is only a $100 and i will see if i can put a pertronix conversion kit in it
i"m in massachussets pretty far from cali or i would have done what u suggested
thanks for the info gary

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-Apr-01 AT 06:55 PM (EST)[/font][p]2560401=23/25 dual point $165.99
3760401=37/45 series unilite $269.95
5060401=50 series magnetic breakerless $221.95
6060401=60 series electronic advance $269.95

Mallory Distributors for the FT engine from their current catalog, part numbers, and current prices from the summit racing equipment online catalog ( http://www.summitracing.com )

 

I have a 1978 Ford F 600 with a 361FT motor. We figured out the distributor needs a complete rebuild or swap and we would like to move to an electronic system and replace the whole distributor. The issue we're facing is our shaft on the distributor is a 1/2" and not the 5/16" that I see posted about everywhere. We were considering a purtronix upgrade and keeping the existing distributor but there is quite a bit of play in the shaft. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

Good picture. Thanks for that addition. Don't have an answer for you, but glad you dug up this old thread (very old!) and brought it to light again.
Hopefully some new information has been gleaned on these engines over the years that can help.

Good luck!
Oh, and did you post it up over in the heavy-duty truck forums too? And though I have not seen it, is there an engine forum for this engine family too? I rarely go over to the engine-specific forums, but find them interesting when I do.

Paul

 

Should be a bushing in the housing on the top at least. Shop manual shows how to replace with a press. On cars they stopped using the lower bushing around 1965 IIRC. I would think on trucks with tach drive they would have both upper and lower bushings. The shafts are pretty stout usually just the bushings wear. During the Smog war years Ford got real pissy about distributor parts and stopped selling anything that would alter calibration codes. I would think you should be able to buy bushings though.