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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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I'm new to the forum and new to Y blocks. I live in the UK and spares and good advice are hard to come by but having scanned the lists in this forum I can see there's a real goldmine of expertise here and I'm really glad I found it. I'm afraid my 'contributions' are going to be somewhat more asking for advice than giving though. On to my question. There's been a lot of discussion on distributors over the months and I'm a little confused. I am replacing the Holley teapot in my 55 T-bird with a Holley from a 57 and had intended replacing the lodo-matic dist with a Mallory Unilite but having researched the forum it seems that the thinking is a 57 Ford dist with a petronix is a better way to go. Rock Auto sell a reconditioned A1 Cardone 57 dist. Is this basically the same as the Ford? Also I'm still running 6V positive ground. How will this effect my choice? Presumably I will also have to loose the tach drive? Thank you for any replies.
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By sundance241 - 16 Years Ago
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GB ird ......Your 55 t-pot carb has a differantbolt pattern , bolt holes are closer together , than the 57 holley .....You can use an adapter , or better change to a 57 intake manifold ... 57 distributors (dizzys ) can be found but are pricey ( 5 or 6 hundred dollars with the tac drive ) . the passenger cars 57 thru 62 use the same dist. but with out the tac drive , usally be had for approx. 50.00 dollars , but this will give you a good set up , just connect the vacuum lines , am sure some one can show a diagram , and go down the road ............Enjoy.......Sam ...West Central Florida
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By paul2748 - 16 Years Ago
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THere are three options I am aware of. Get a 57 Bird dizzy and you can have the tach drive. You can put a Pertronix in this. Probably find these on ebay or a TBird parts supplier that handles used parts. Cost - 350 to 550 US $. Any used one should be rebuilt. Mallory tach drive distributor, compatible with the Bird tach. Expensive.
Third choice is the rebuilt 57 and later dizzy (Cardone?). You will lose the tach drive as I doubt they have a rebuilt Bird distributor. Less than 100 US$.
If you go with the last option, there have been TBird owners who have replaced the stock tach with an electronic one. I may have info on this (brand, etc) - I tried to find it but will have to spend more time looking for it.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 16 Years Ago
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About 45 years and 150,000 miles ago I grafted the lower part of my '56 Bird distributor to the upper part of a '57 up model. Retained the tach drive and got rid of the loadomatic. Only downside was I destroyed a good '56 Bird distributor, but I haven't missed it. It's not difficult if you have access to a lathe or a machinist that has one.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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GB ird,
If your Bird has OD, the 6V/pos. ground Pertronix may be problematic without a solid-state relay conversion.
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By Johnson Rod - 16 Years Ago
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Do they even make a 6v positive ground pertronix for the '57 up distributor??
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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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That's a good question Johnson. Anybody running a 6v/pos ground with a later dist +Pertronix?
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By 55Birdman - 16 Years Ago
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No they dont make a 6V petronix for the Bird.
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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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Thank you all for your replies. I'm not quite sure where to go form here. A 57 dizzy with point I guess. Richard
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By Ted - 16 Years Ago
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Past link on a six volt Pertronix installation but it pertains specifically to the Load-O-Matic distributors. http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic6983-5-1.aspx And the link to the Pertronix website catalog showing the ignition conversion kits. Pertronix catalogues For the L-O-M distributors and per the catalogue, the conversions are available in both 6 volt positive and negative ground. No footnotes for the ’57 and up dizzys regarding six volts though. It would be worthwhile contacting Pertronix and seeing if this is something that’s easily available on their end. And they would need to know if the vehicle is positive or negative ground as that will make a difference. Another possibility is to redrill the ’57 breaker plate for the L-O-M six volt module if the rest of the conversion kit is compatible.
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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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Thanks Ted, I'll contact Pertronix. Richard
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By PF Arcand - 16 Years Ago
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Richard: Why are you replacing the early Holley carb? I'll presume it needs an overhaul. If you could get it repaired, it would save you a lot of research time and $$s. Most of the other solutions are expensive & render your Tach inoperative & make the Bird non original. Just another thought...
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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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Hi Paul The teapot isn't running well and I'm conscious of it's 'firey' reputation. I've got a 57 B manifold and rebuilt 57 Holley carb which should provide a bolt on improvement in performance which is really what I'm after. I would keep hold of the original stuff though. This only leaves me with the distributor conundrum. I've e-mailed Mallory and Pertronix but no repies yet. Cheers Richard
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By DANIEL TINDER - 16 Years Ago
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Richard,
Curious about your '55 Bird. Always wondered what happened to Ian Flemming's (he was one of the first to obtain one in the UK, and he REALLY loved it). Do you know anything about the previous owners/origin?
Over here, one of the first owners was a famous auto columnist (McCahill?) who raved about his.
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By 'GB'ird - 16 Years Ago
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Hi No hint of Bond here I'm afraid. I bought this car this Feb from a dealer here in the UK who got at auction in Hershey US about 18 months ago. It would be good to know what happened to Fleming's car though. If I find out..... Richard
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