Look on ebay - there always seems to be a lot of them on there.  I just checked ebay - there are 18 listed.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Thanks everyone, the new distrubutor just arrived. Can't wait to put it on a see how it does.

Take your time removing your dist. Mark the spot where the rotor is pointing or crank over the engine with the cap off and get it to a spot you like, place the new rotor aim as close as you can and will be real close when starting. Best thing I ever did to my 56... Are you still 6 volts? If so the electric choke will work but it will take longer to heat up. I would set it just enough "on" to raise the idle cam and not shut the choke butterfly. Have fun you will enjoy it.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

The car was changed to 12 volt before I got it. Thanks for the info, planning on working on it today.

Anybody know what I should gap the points at?

.014-.016.   28 Degrees of Dwell. They should be close as installed at Rebiulders.

  

I thought it had an original distributor but here's what I found. Looks like someone put a newer electronic dist. in with no points. Is this better or worse for the carb I put on?

That looks like a Pertronix unit. I really like them, but you must have the correct coil or you could burn it up. It should have a coil that reads no less than 1.5 ohms between the "+" and "-" terminals. And it should be rated for the same voltage as your car. Seeing as it is in a distributor from a 12V car originally, chances are it is a 12V unit. The red wire goes to the "+" side of the coil and the black wire goes to the "-" terminal of the coil if your system is 12V negative ground. If there is a ballast resister ahead of the coil it should be bypassed. The points and condenser can be reinstalled if you prefer, but the Pertronix unit keeps the correct dwell indefinitely and is maintenance free. The downside is when/if it fails it is instantaneous. I keep a points/condenser set in my car. 

Some odds and ends about the Pertronix ignition -
(1) The firing unit is designed to operate on the full 13.5 volts of the "12v" ignition. If there is a ballast resistor in there, it shouldn't be in the red power lead to the controller/firing unit.
(2) I can see in the photo - that the ground to the distributor is NOT jumpered to the moving point plate. If you look at the usual point ignitions, they have a braided connection between the moving point plate and the body of the distributor. The Perrtronix requires this same ground. I usually make sure a set-up like this is grounded clear back to the block. Many times it has been found that as the point plate moves - the ground changes - and it reduces the voltage to the controller.
(3) Many have found that conventional coils don't like full voltage - and they overheat and fail when exposed to such a current load. Best to retain a ballast resistor - if you don't have a high temp resistant coil.   

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to take it out and replace with the Cardona one everyone suggested.