Distributor Help
 

What is the hinged door on my 1960 292 distributor for?

That's where the Spark Fairy goes in and out. You're lucky to have one like that.

Actually, I haven't a clue, but was feeling wierd...

Oh that was funny!!!!!
LOL

Just guessing here... would it make it easier to set the gap, or maybe the dwell?

Thanks, what size allen wrench do I use????

If its like the old GM's (yea, i know, i know...) then its to set the dwell while the truck is running. Take a flashlight and crawl around under your hood until you can see in there (be careful of the Spark Fairy they're sneaky little fellas) and see if you can see some sort of adjusting screw. The GM's where set up for an allen wrench.

Bobby

Ok my brother had a 67 Camaro with a 283 (couldn't hardly get out of its own way - my 66 Mustang with 289 would blow its door off if it was running). I remember the GM points coming with an allen wrench. I haven't seen this option for the Y blocks. Where could I get something like this? Do they even sell dwell meters anymore??

Glenn in TN

A digital multimeter that measure frequency will work. I believe time is 1/frquency.

Thanks Guys !!!!
I will play with it and ask the Sparky Fairy what size it is.

Yup, you can get a dwell meter for about 1/10th of what it would have cost you in 1965. Electronics getting cheaper all the time, you know. :)

But do they sell distributor caps with windows for the Y block?

I didn't think Y-block points had an allen screw a la Chevy/GM? Is this possibly a distributor conversion? Could it be a cooty-bob job, someone put a GM cap on a Y-block?? Or did Y-blocks of some vintage come that way?

I always thought it was a GM thing. Surprised to hear about one on a Ford.

Can the dwell even be changed on 1953 V8 distributers? I think only the gap can be adjusted on these older distributers-but I have been wrong many times before!

Changing the gap changes the dwell. You can set the gap with a feeler gage or wire gage or with a dwell meter. I usually set the gap first, then fine-tune with the dwell meter.