waldo786

I am changing out my old POS replacement holley carb in my 66 mustang I6 for an autolite 1100. I bought the vacuum lines that I need but one of the lines comes from the distributor with vacuum advance. Will I be able to use the distributor I have now or do I need to get an original style one? My car is at my parents house since I don't have room for it at my condo here so I can't go take a look at it. Any thoughts are appreciated.

tx65coupe

Good choice on going back to the autolite carb. What type of distributor is in it currently? This might make it easier for someone to answer your question.

kalli

bit more info would be great as tx65coupe says, however distributors are independent of carburetor. So for that matter I don't see a reason why that has to be changed

Stangatic

If your distributor is a vacuum advanced distributor then you will need to hook up the vacuum lines so the timing can be advanced. But if you have a mechanical advance distributor then you don't need to hook up the vacuum lines. You just have to make sure to plug the vacuum port coming out of the carb.

As to what Kalli says, it's independent of the carb and you should not have to change it. you just need to make sure you understand what kind of advance the distributor is setup for.

waldo786

Thanks for that info guys, that is good to know. I got down to my parents house and got some pics of my setup if that might help anyone figure out what it is I'm working with here. Now the million dollar question: How do I tell whether or not my distributor is using vacuum advance or mechanical advance? Thanks everyone!

2+2GT

Not always true. The 64-67 Loadomatic distributor used on the 170 and 200 cid engines was a vacuum-only distributor, which used a specially calibrated slotted vacuum orifice in the Autolite 110 carburetor, so in this case the two go together as a set. If he already has a Lodomatic, what he's doing in this case is restoring the thing to proper OEM function. Might want to consider having the advance curve of the distributor checked, though.

In the OP's case, the point is moot, because his distributor is a 68 or later unit, with vacuum and centrifugal advance. In fact, he has a dual-diaphram advance. Originality-wise, it's not even close.

JMD

If the distributor is STOCK to your 66, you will need a carb with the proper valve to make your distributor advance properly.

An Autolite 1100 with the vac valve will work fine, one that does not have the valve not so well....

If your carb has the little breather looking thing next to the vac port, you are ok.

from---- http://classicinlines.com/AutoliteCarbs.asp


11) What is the difference between the 65-67 and the '68 Autolite 1100 carb?
1968 carburetors differ from the 65-67 in 2 ways. First, they do not have a Spark Control Valve (looks like a power valve). For the engine to function properly with this carb, the distributor must have centrifuged advance (spring loaded weights inside) along with the vacuum advance unit. 1967 and older engines (except '66 and '67 California Emissions) utilized the Load-O-matic distributor, which had vacuum advance only. The second difference is the CFM. In 1968 Ford put a 170 CID size carburetor on a 200 CID engine. If you ever looked at the engine specs, in 1968 the 200 CID engine is rated at 115 HP (this was generous, it is probably more like 105 HP). The 1967 and older engines were rated 120 HP. By changing the venturi inside the 1968 carb to the larger 1967 and older size, we can substantially increase your performance. The difference in the standing quarter mile is about 6 MPH. The cost for this upgrade is $30.

JMD

If the engine is a 66, and he is using a later distributor, one of two things would have to have happened to facilitate the swap.....

1. the part of the distributor shaft that extends beyond the gear would have to be turned down to fit in the smaller hole in the engine block,

2. or the hole in the engine block would have to have been bored out to accept the larger shaft size. In either case, the oil pump would need to be changed to accept a 5/16" shaft

An aftermarket distributor ($$$) is available to facilitate the swap and an Australian distributor will work also.

waldo786

I don't believe either of the above scenarios has happened. Will the load o matic distributor work with the replacement holly carbs?

JMD

If the Holley carb has the "Spark Control Valve" it will work. Also, any Autolite with the spark control valve will work as well.

If at some point a 68 or later engine was swapped into your car then all of this discussion is moot anyway....