Author Topic: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question  (Read 4639 times)

54 Kaiser

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'54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« on: June 19, 2009, 04:37:11 AM »
Do any of you who have made notes, have the number off the manufacturers plate on the distributor of your '54 Manhattan?

After a lot of scrubbing to remove the black paint someone had applied to mine, I'm reading Delco-Remy number 1110234. This corresponds from what I found, to the exact same part number distributor being used in the 1954 Pontiac with the 6 cylinder and automatic. Including the vacuum advance.

I'd like to double check to see if there were a variety used or if mine has been changed.

Going along with this, has anyone put a PerTronix electronic pointless conversion on their '54? And, has anyone tried a Flamethower coil on 6 volts? (Negative ground.)

Chris Luecht

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2009, 07:24:31 AM »
1110224 is the Declo distributor used on 51-55 Kaisers.  It is KF # 208252.  I did, however, find reference to KF# 216066 as being used on 54-55 Supercharged Kaisers.  The only difference noted is that it has a shorter distributor cap on it.  Not 100% sure if they used the same 1110224 and just changed the cap or not.
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54 Kaiser

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2009, 10:06:15 PM »
The confirmation is good then. It adds another source of parts for the '54. The Pontiac distributor will fit and they made a lot of Pontiacs.

montefrazer

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2009, 08:45:08 PM »
I'm reading Delco-Remy number 1110234.
1110224 is the Declo distributor used on 51-55 Kaisers.

Close but not exact. 0234 and 0224.

54 Kaiser

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2009, 08:40:20 PM »
Metal plate on mine reads 1110234.

If it's wrong it wouldn't surprise me. The car is wired 6V NEGATIVE ground. The supercharger was pulled off in favour of an air conditioning compressor. A dinky, noisy "rat rod" air filter in place of the proper, quiet, oil bath unit.

A swapped distributor wouldn't surprise me at this point.  ::)

54 Kaiser

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2009, 06:38:52 PM »
OK, this just took another turn. I cleaned more paint off the distributor plate and it's actually 1110237. Not 4.

So I've got some people telling me they have the 0237 and others the 0224.

Just found someone on eBay with a lot of Kaiser parts from parting a few cars. He has a distributor listed (Item #120452467747) with this description:

51 52 53 54 KAISER MANHATTAN SUPERCHARGER DISTRIBUTOR
- For your consideration is an original distributor  that came off of a 1954 kaiser Manhattan 4 door sedan with a supercharger.
- Part #1110237
- Distributor is in good condition.
- We are parting out 3 Manhattans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

So this seems to suggest two different distributors used on the '54's.

Comments or suggestions?

Fid

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2009, 06:55:37 PM »
My 1955 edition of "Motor's Auto Repair" lists the distributor for a 1951-55 Kaiser as "Delco-Remy 1110224."  It makes no distinction between supercharged and non-supercharged cars.
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joefrazer

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2009, 03:24:07 PM »
All 226 Kaisers from 51-5 without a supercharger used the 1110224 distributor. The 1110237 was used on the 54-5 S/C equipped cars. The difference is in the weights inside the distributor to handle the S/C under load. The benefit is negligible and for all intents and purposes, they are interchangeable.

54 Kaiser

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Re: '54 Manhattan Distributor - type question
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2009, 07:07:58 PM »
My 1955 edition of "Motor's Auto Repair" lists the distributor for a 1951-55 Kaiser as "Delco-Remy 1110224."  It makes no distinction between supercharged and non-supercharged cars.
I've got the 1956 edition and, same thing, Fid.

All 226 Kaisers from 51-5 without a supercharger used the 1110224 distributor. The 1110237 was used on the 54-5 S/C equipped cars. The difference is in the weights inside the distributor to handle the S/C under load. The benefit is negligible and for all intents and purposes, they are interchangeable.

Thanks Joe. I was "talking" with Terry Zeug about this one as well. I figured that the odds of me having a distributor from a completely different make of car on my Manhattan, and someone on eBay claiming he pulled the same number distributor off a S/C '54 being a coincidence, were pretty astronomical. So we figured that the 237 must be right for some of the cars. Mine is missing the S/C so I hope the difference in the advance characteristics aren't too far off. They might have backed off on the advance a bit with the S/C version to prevent engine knock on cheap gas.

Now, I have to "fix" the fact that the previous owner must have worked on the car and put the distributor back with the vacuum advance facing the air cleaner. Which wasn't a problem until I bought an oil bath cleaner for a '54 Special - to replace a little rat-rod chrome one - and found it won't fit because of the advance. It's what you might call an "interference fit".

I'm hoping that all I have to do is take the cap off, detach the vacuum line, and rotate the base 180 degrees. Then put the cap back on, reposition the plug wires to the correct order and set the timing.

BTW, is the condenser normally mounted on the OUTSIDE of the distributor?
(Mine is. First time I've seen it like that.)
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 07:11:41 PM by 54 Kaiser »