Which distributor do I need ???

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depends on cam. i forget which is which, but roller cam vs. flat tappet i think. one uses bronze and the other uses steel. and if you have one of each on cam and dist, then the steel will eat the bronze. chomp chomp.
 
Depends on your cam's material, Flat-tappet cams use iron geared distributor's. Rollers use Steel geared dist. You can use bronze on either, but they won't last as long. Bronze really should only be used in race applications, where you would frequently pull the engine apart to freshen it up or for parts inspection.
 
D.Hearne said:
Depends on your cam's material, Flat-tappet cams use iron geared distributor's. Rollers use Steel geared dist. You can use bronze on either, but they won't last as long. Bronze really should only be used in race applications, where you would frequently pull the engine apart to freshen it up or for parts inspection.

Yup, what he said
 
For a roller cam:
If you don't want to get an aftermarket dist (MSD) and you don't want to run points, get a duraspark distributor for a 1985 mustang GT 5-speed (not auto). these are for carbed cars that use duraspark. You could also get a steel gear put on your original distributor. www.mustangsteve.com has a diagram for duraspark in a classic. www.gofastforless.com has a diagram to use GM HEI with a duraspark distributor.
 
SadbutTrue said:
Is getting a new distributor worth it? Seems like a spark is a spark to me...
A spark is a spark , but it's gotta be there at the right point in time and large enough to light off the mixture inside of a millisecond. I've run stock points type distributors for years, with only a Pertronix unit upgrade, a hotter than stock coil, with quality wires and all have performed reliably up to 7500 rpms. The only deviation from this was in the mid 80's when I tried a dual point Mallory in my 427 Stang. This experiment lasted only till I got fed up with the hassle of setting 2 sets of points, and all that regestered on the seat-of-the-pants meter was a big fat zero gain in performance. I have personally never felt the need for expensive aftermarket ignition systems and distributors.