Im need to upgrade my dist to a 57 whats the best or easys way to ID a 57 dist?

Go to NAPA or similar parts stores and get a rebuilt one. Does not have to be a 57, can be 57 and later YBlock. About 85 bucks with a core (they will take a pre 57 as a core, they did for me().

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

Ask for one for a 1964 Ford F100 pickup with 292.Last year the 292 was sold in a vehicle in North America.The 57+ distributors have centrifugal (weights and springs under the breaker plate) as well as the vacuum advance in the can.Much more responsive to engine speed and load.I seem to recall Autozone had a good price on this.

  

As mentioned, the centrifugal weights under the breaker plate is the main difference, but a quick visual ID is that the earlier pre-57 dizzys have a larger vacuum canister.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

The number on a 57 to 59 were FEK  or  FEH       12127      Ball bearing breaker plate

  Greg

Hi Kansas,  Another easy way to identify a '57 and later distributor is to use a '57 distributor cap, it is way too big for a '54-56 Y-block distributor.  You'll probably need to buy a cap and rotor for a rebuilt distributor anyway, they don't usually come with them.  I would guess the difference in diameter between a '56 and a '57 is something like 3/8".  Good luck, Nick Brann - K.C., MO

I would suggest the simplest way to id the dizzys is the presence of the 2 advance springs on the breaker plate in the early one  54-56 and an absence of those on the later type,57 on. then in the later type there is the ball bearing base plate that takes the straight arm vacuum advance chamber and the more common with 2 piece breaker plate with bent arm vacuum advance chamber. Hope this simplifies it all.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

even the points are different so you cant go wrong.

As you say, everything between the dizzys is different, main reason for explaining the key physical differences is if you dont have both to compare when looking for correct one.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Are these last ones significantly better than say a '57? I mean would it be worth swapping out a '57 to a '64 F100?

Richard