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.

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

56 victoria

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.

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

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.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

GB ird,



If your Bird has OD, the 6V/pos. ground Pertronix may be problematic without a solid-state relay conversion.

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Do they even make a 6v positive ground pertronix for the '57 up distributor??





Johnson Rod



Southern California

That's a good question Johnson. Anybody running a 6v/pos ground with a later dist +Pertronix?

No they dont make a 6V petronix for the Bird.

55Birdman  Hickory NC

Thank you all for your replies. I'm not quite sure where to go form here. A 57 dizzy with point I guess.

Richard

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.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)