So me and my right hand man picked up that factory guage cluster with the tach out of a 58 MH. The dist. was froze in the block which I didnt try to hard to get out when i noticed the end of the tach drive cable was broken off. Since the cable was broken I didnt think the dist. would be much good. Plus, they aren't going anywhere so if need be I can go back and pry the dist. out. The cable was just hanging there so I didnt even see where it would plug into the dist.. My question is.........is there another way to drive this factory tach or is it just gonna be for show. Maybe I should check in with a Y Block forum and ask them? Plus I need to check the manual and see what engine it may have had in it. I forgot to check the vin. It looked like a 292 to me. 4 brl intake and ram horn exhaust manifolds. Those will also join the goodies if the price is right and will work on a 292. Pictures to follow as soon as jr. gets them loaded into photobucket.

 

It would be distributor drive only
Marc

 

Well, it depends on how creative you want to get. A tach drive distributor is the best method, and the early T Birds with the Y block used a tach drive distributor when they had a tach, so they are available (but high $$).

Another idea is what Ford did on some tractors - they had a tach drive adaptor on the back of the generator. You could get a tach drive generator (and some of the 3000 Series had a Lucas tach drive alternator). I do not know how they accounted for the speed difference as the generator spun faster than the crank, but a speedometer shop could probably come up with a correction gearbox.

There are other ways, you just have to be creative and make sure you account for the speed of what is driving the tach and the calibration of the tach. I would be strange to be driving down the road at 30 mph in high with the tach pegged.

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I called a Y block guru today, meet him a couple months ago. This guy knows more about the Y block than anyone I have ever known. We have come to the conclusion that the engine is a 302 or a 332 which makes it a lincoln engine. The factory dist. will work in a 292 but i need to change the dist drive gear as they were different than the 302/332. Other than the gear the dist will work. Now my next challenege will be to find a new or complete cable to mate the two. Stu, aka truckdog was kind enough to check his parts manual for the part numbers so I can try to source a new one.