Distributor

[Fins59]

Installed new distributor in my '59 tonite. I found that Autozone & Carquest does not list one for a '59 318 eng., but does for a '61 Plymouth. The '61 fits in there/matches up perfectly. $45 bucks at Carquest and you get a new vacuum advance, points and condenser. Same one at Autozone is $37. One thing though is when you replace points, you have to remember to specify '61 Ply and not '59. A few years back I bought a 59 Fury that has a '61 dist in it and it took me awhile to figure out why '59 points would not fit. I took # off dist and found out someone had installed a '61 in it.

[rogerh]

Great tip! I spent $$ having my distrubutor rebuilt, re-bushed, etc. Although I knew other distributors would fit and function, I didnt know you could buy a new unit off the shelf.
I bet you will notice the improvement.
I had Electronic ignition put on my 361...from a Performance outlet whose name I cannot remember. The installer mounted the module on the inner fender, near the washer bag.
It was orange and bronze-ish. I finally spray-painted it black to blend in to the fender.

[Fins59]

I've been running the car a little bit last fall and this spring with the vacuum advance unhooked because VA would move the loose dist shaft and make engine run rough. Car ran ok with VA unhooked but I got lousy gas mileage, so needless to say, had to fix her fast if I want to drive it. I'm going to order the Petronix unit along with a coil soon. Supposed to work good and not have to worry about points.

[Faulkner]

... I'm going to order the Petronix unit along with a coil soon. Supposed to work good and not have to worry about points.

I haven't had my cap off since it's been installed! Definitely worth the investment.

Dan

[sportfury1959]

Good too hear that! I bought my Pertronix Kit about in February 2005. I didn’t have the chance to install it immediately and some month later Ron told me that there was a 361 for sale. At this point it wasn’t worthy anymore to put the Pertronix into the 318 distributor and it’s laying on the shelf – for now. BUT, I’ve already checked the odds of using it for the 361. It will not be a simple bolt-on-job, like on the 318, but with two correctly bored holes it will work just perfect.

Stefan

[Dick Koch]

Stephan - The Pertronix Kit for the 361 with dual points is not the same as the 318. The part # for the dual point distributer is 1382.
Dick

[sportfury1959]

Thanks Dick,

I have a single point Distributor - no idea why - but it came with the engine. Does this have any negative influence for the engine?

Stefan

[Dick Koch]

Stephan - As far as I know the two point setup gave a much hotter spark and as a result more efficient combustion of the fuel. The Pertronix Ignition gives equal or better spark because I see no difference in acceleration, it's still scary.
Dick