i am building a 56 f100 and I just got my freshly rebuilt 1968 302 back. It is carbureted and c4 trans.. just for info. I have the stock distributor marked motor craft d30f 12/27 HB 2m20.

problem is I have spent a lot on this engine and have a ton more on the rest of the truck to buy, so my plan was to keep the original distributor and get new points, capacitor, cap, wires and hopefully spend no more than $100.

The distributor needs all that plus vacuum advance, the three Plastic buttons on the breaker plate are broke. The wire coming out is loose, and there is a good 1/2 inch up and down play on the shaft.

should I spend more and fix what I have or buy a hei setup. I don't have the money to spend on an expensive one, anyone have luck with the ones from amazon or eBay that are less than $100? This is a amateur daily driver build

 

 

Is the up and down play normal?

 

Sounds like a basket case to me. You'd do well using it for a core to use on a trade in for a fresh reman unit from the local parts house. I'd also invest in a Pertronix Unit to replace the points and condenser. That and a flamethrower coil to match. Points are nothing but trouble. But if you do decide to keep the points, you need to invest in a dwell meter to set them correctly. The point gap is only a starting point. The dwell setting is the most important thing to get set. If the dwell is off then so is the tune.

 

I am trying to avoid spending $200 in a distributor if I don't have to. If I can't finish the truck then an awesome ignition system is worthless. If I can fix this down the road I can upgrade. I am mostly worried about the up and down movement

 

I bought a fresh reman 85 Stang distributor about 10 years ago at the local Advance Auto parts for $55. Check em out before spending anything on what you have now.

 

was it complete or stripped down. Would an 80s distributor fit in a 68 motor

 

Points and condensers worked fine for decades, they will still work fine today. The trick is, they won't work well at all in a clapped out distributor. And there's lots to go wrong in an old distributor. Breaker plate, vacuum advance, and more.

Remember they are a strictly mechanical device. Virtually any side play or runout in the distributor shaft and bushings will cause problems with points. Most of them are worn out after 50 or 60 or 70 years by now. That's why everybody loves the drop-in spark modules, they aren't effected by shaft wobble.

However, even if you go to a Pertronix, you want a fresh, rebuilt distributor. Trust me on this.

DON'T cheap out now. The distributor is the "brains" of the entire ignition system. I had my Y block rebuilt and stuck a worn out junkbox carburetor and distributor on it, this was a mistake it ran like &@)t!! for a long time. Big mistake.

The next issue, a new distributor, or rebuilt, will need to have the internal ignition advance curved for YOUR engine. Trust me (again) on this. I think your best bet, is to send off your current distributor to be rebuilt (or as a core) to one of the distributor specialists. Bubbas Ignition is one, Faron Rhoads in Penn. is another. I'm sure there are many others. Faron is a Ford guy. It will cost about a $100 or so with shipping to have done.

Nod your head yes. He'll ask what engine you have.. transmission... gearing.. carburetor, compression ratio.. cam.. intended use, elevation, weight (the truck, not you) etc etc. What you want to avoid especially is screwing around on a new motor, especially initial break-in. Get it started right away without any drama. Get it at 2000-2500 for cam break-in etc. Then go beat the **** out of it. With a good distributor, you'll be a lot happier with the way it performs.

 

Yes, The only time you'd run into issues is when trying to use an EFI unit in a motor with an HD oilpump drive. The bottom end of these units are longer than the previous ones. With a std oil pump drive, this isn't an issue

 

Ok now I am totally confused. Having distributor curved...elevation...weight. i want to keep this as simple as possible.

 

I get that, I really do. But it's like everything else, it's probably 90% preparation, and only 10% executing the actual task. Carburetors are sort of similar - if it will bolt on, it will run. Just probably not very well. They might look the same on the outside, but the innards is different.

When you buy a remanufactured distributor, it will (should) be mechanically sound and re-bushed, and a new vacuum diaphragm and the rest of it. But Ford used the same basic type distributor in a whole bunch of different engines and platforms, but the internals are customized for that specific application. It will physically fit, and run in your 68 302 - but odds are it won't be "tailored" to your truck engine. You never know what you're gonna get. A big heavy truck needs a different ignition curve than a lightweight car. An auto transmission needs a different curve than a manual. And then, there's distributors that were made in the 70s smog era, engines with EGR, different vacuum advance cans...

The ignition curve is internally adjustable, but on Fords it is kind of a PITA, have to remove the breaker plate to get to it. Is that something you want to learn.. doesn't sound like it. The amount of ignition advance is different depending on the vehicle. It could have a 10L, 13L, or 18L, reluctor inside, providing 20, 26, or 36 degrees of ignition advance depending on what you get. And different weight springs, that determines when the advance comes in the RPM band.

I was like you, didn't understand any of that stuff when I got my truck. Well, I understood the truck ran like ****. Learned a lot in the process but, would have been WAY ahead of the game installing a fresh, curved distributor by Faron or Bubba or whoever - if you want to "keep it simple". You're in the Army right? Do they still talk about "attention to detail"? Well there ya go. That's what those guys do for a living.

You can learn to do it yourself, or pay the man. Keep in mind even with a customized distributor, you'll still need to learn to install it correctly, set the initial timing properly, and dial in the vacuum advance.

But if you take the time to do it right, you'll thank yourself everytime you drive it. A good distributor, properly curved, and a well sized, tuned carburetor are really important - this means you can smoke the tires AND get excellent fuel mileage, if you can keep your foot out of it anyway. It's also possible to have that very same truck that won't even get out of its own way AND wastes gas like nobodies business. I got to thinking about this tonight. Have had my rolling pile of misery going on almost 20 years, and have been performing a tune up ever since. Starting to run good, ha ha.

 

Didn't mean to scare ya off.. Sorry for the novel.. LOL

 

I think you're over complicating things here. I've run a reman distributor in 4 different builds (three 5.0's and a 331) in an 89 Ranger and never had cause to think I was leaving power on the table. This truck weighed 3500 lbs had a Toploader 4 speed backed by a 3.73 geared rear with 28" tires. It was more fun than a barrel of monkeys around town. Ignition module was a Pertronix II, then later a Crane XR-1. The vacuum pod was the run of the mill single diaphragm unit. It was never driven like a truck. The OP's truck isn't likely to be used nor driven like a truck either, so recommending a truck distributor is the wrong way to go here. I'd like to know how these "custom" distributor builders you recommend come up with the specs on one. Ford spent mucho $$$$ spec'ing distributors for dozens of applications, far more than what "Larry the distributor guy" has spent. How does Larry come up with his magic combo without actually having the customer's vehicle to test various combinations on ? And how would Larry's unit compare in that same combo to one run with a reman unit ? Has anyone actually ever actually done this ?

 

I didn't recommend a truck distributor, that was my point.

It depends on what you have, and what you want to do. For my part it doesn't make much sense to rebuild an engine ($$$ these days) and then just stab any old dizzy in there out of the junkbox. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough, Ford had dozens of different ignition curves depending on the application. When you buy a remann, you might get one that's "close enough", then again you might not.

Distributor rebuilders have a distributor machine. They were once common in bigger shops. They can spool it up to 6000 RPM and adjust and tailor the ignition curve anyway you want it, in exactly the same way as Ford engineers did. The end user can do sort of the same thing in his engine, but it's a pain in the ***. For a $100 it's a no brainer to have someone who knows what they are doing dial it in from the git go. Some of the remans are of questionable quality in terms of parts and materials. One thing they also check, is for proper dimensions in terms of length and height of the cam gear, one of the concerns the OP has.

 

Using a distributor machine means squat setting the curve. Only way you'd actually know what the engine likes would be to actually have it on a chassis dyno and run it through it's paces. You simply cannot do this long distance over the phone or by email. And like I said before, you have know way of proving it unless you run both units back to back with no other changes. I totally agree though in not trying to use a worn out distributor, unless it's a do or die situation where you need it running now. Same thing with points in general vs an electronic unit. The selection in what's available in points sets is nowhere near what it once was. Not all sets are the same in terms of quality. Then there's how he's going to use the vehicle. Is it going to be a daily driver, or a weekend cruiser driven occasionally ? If the former, points aren't going to out perform an electronic unit, the dwell needs to be checked periodically, how often depends on how fast the rubbing block and the contacts wear.