Author Topic: DISTRIBUTOR  (Read 529 times)

Terry T

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DISTRIBUTOR
« on: February 24, 2025, 10:35:44 AM »
what are differences between Delco and Autolite

Fid

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Re: DISTRIBUTOR
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2025, 09:54:13 PM »
The cap, points, rotor, condenser and vacuum advance do not interchange between the units, however, you can swap out the whole distributor and either will work just fine.  I had a Delco unit in my '52 HJ Vagabond for years.  Everything else was Autolite but when I acquired and rebuilt the engine it was missing the distributor. I had a Delco unit and installed and it worked fine.  I eventually found an NOS Autolite unit and installed that only to keep the car authentic but functionally, they both worked just fine.  My Allstate had a Delco unit in it when I got it.  It worked fine despite the rest of electrics were Autolite and the parts list indicated it should have Autolite.  I eventually found an Autolite unit for the Allstate as well and again just installed it to keep the car authentic but both units worked just fine in it.  The timing and dwell angle is different between the two but just set it to the spec for that unit and they work fine.
1953 Henry J Corsair Deluxe
Edgar Kaiser's custom 1951 Henry J
1951 Kaiser Special
1952 Allstate Deluxe

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