I need to replace the points plate in an original Pantera (Ford Autolite) distributor. This is the points plate that is also used in the Boss 302, 351c Cobra Jet, Boss 429 and 429 CJ for use with the dual vacuum advance.
PM me here if you have one for sale please. Thanks.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
FWIW, if you scavenge for parts in wrecking yards like me, I'm told all Ford distributors 1957-1992 used the same inner parts and all those parts are interchangeable, even the electronic ones. There are some tricky parts made for marine engines and some MSD innards come from Ford. Only variation was the shaft OD- some were 0.457"- especially Aussie versions, & most were 0.500". After '88 or so, the bodies took a big cap directly without the conical plastic adapter. About 1981 Ford started calling the 351-W a "5.8-L". That may have been when they also stopped making the Canadian 351-M variant.
I swear I had one but couldn't find it.
Is this what you need:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194489565679
@jmardy posted:I swear I had one but couldn't find it.
Is this what you need:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/194489565679
That is a single point plate that you have pictured. It is not the same. I have probably a dozen of those. The dual point has a ball bearing built into it but is the same size since it fits into the same aluminum distributor housing.
There are other differences that eliminate the possibility to use the single point plate in place of the dual point as well.
In addition, the Ford mechanical only advance dual point plate is different again since it has no provision for the vacuum advance.
These plates were all serviced individually by Ford. Most service parts will be of Motorcraft origin but are functionally the same if not identical to the originals but those are now an obsolete part
They're out there in peoples junk piles out in the garage in distributors only good for parts. Artifacts of the early '70s.
If they are being serviced aftermarket I'd love to find the source. It's like a $30 part.
Jack,
This is a case where one part only fits one application, as Doug pointed out!
The points plate is indeed different for dual points, and again more different for those like the Pantera needs with the provision for vacuum advance, as Doug also correctly stated.
This ALSO makes the rubbing block tower unique! Which requires a unique rotor!!! AND unique points......
I have a box/bag of that stuff somewhere.......... Still trying to recover from moving.....but it's not working! If I stumble across that stuff will ping you!
Don't touch that dial!
Steve
I can only hold my breath for so long. The EMS unit doesn't carry parts. Just oxygen and meds to calm me down with.
I've got the right points cam. Just need the plate. I know I'm going to wind up with a bunch of them. I just know it.
It's the original Pantera housing. Now THAT'S even harder to find.
Now here's a question. Was the original cap an AUTOLITE cap or just a plain black one? (I've got one of those too).
I didn't mean that all dizzy parts are the same, I meant they INTERCHANGE. So a points plate for a 460 truck will fit a 289 body or a 351-W. But it will also have a 460- truck advance curve so you need to know what specs you need to modify what you've got. Some turn upside-down and have a second part built -in that way. The length of the slot the plate parts travel in can be shortened with a welder or soldering gun, or lengthened with a Dremel tool.
Doug,
Plain ol' cap.
The distributor housing or casting, will take either type of points plate.....as Jack was suggesting....I think.....
You can put Duraspark pieces in an older casting, but you need to cut a slot for the wiring to fit......but darned close!
What housing are you seeking?????
Steve
@mangusta posted:Doug,
Plain ol' cap.
The distributor housing or casting, will take either type of points plate.....as Jack was suggesting....I think.....
You can put Duraspark pieces in an older casting, but you need to cut a slot for the wiring to fit......but darned close!
What housing are you seeking?????
Steve
I have the entire distributor except the points plate. It is D30F-12127-FA with the correct vintage AUTOLITE identification. The Ford application listing shows it as a '73 Q which is what my '73 should have been built with, and a 2M9 date code so it isn't a service part.
Yes, Jack is correct. All Ford distributor POINTS housings are of the same internal dimensions.
The point plates and the points cams interchange.
You are correct about the Motorcraft pointless distributors having the same dimensions as well, just requiring the "slot" for the larger wiring harness.
That is what I currently have in the car. A Duraspark II with a Pantera-Electronics ignition controller and a big mutha' ignition coil.
What's nice about this particular housing is that it has the original , just manufactured luster and the stampings haven't been modified or enhanced like so many "restored" ones are now.
In regards to your earlier post though, the points are not special, they are just the straight points that go in any of the Ford dual point distributors.
So this distributor gets put back to as delivered new by Ford and is a legacy to the car.
Since it is just for one year, '73, it's a rare piece amongst rare pieces, so worth the effort.
This is like finding an original, close to mint distributor for your 'Goose. You've gotta' keep it.
The mechanism is nice and tight too which is really uncommon with the Autolites I've rebuilt/reassembled, which is quite a few.
It even has the right wire with the red coil push on end and AUTOLITE molded into the rubber grommet. Close to a museum quality piece.
All original Autolite dual points are pricey these days. I've rarely seen these come up at all if ever?
The parts were labeled Autolite through 1971. They were re-labeled Motorcraft parts beginning 1972. Same for carburetors and everything else. The name changed for legal reasons, otherwise the parts are identical. Ford was accused of having a monopoly or something like that. They obviously lost the court battle. Motorcraft did not exist prior to 1972.
That's also why Ford's high perf parts were sold via a sub-division of Autolite through 1971. They became Off Highway Only (OHO) parts in 1972. That was a one year operation. High Perf parts became verboten in early 1973. Some Hi Perf parts were shuffled out the back door to various race contractors at that time (like Holman Moody). Eventually an inventory of race parts was re-established at Ford, hidden amongst Ford's massive parts inventory. Locations and part numbers were known only to race teams and select contractors.
I've got a set of those heads, but what was the block?
Wasn't the last iteration of blocks the D2AE-CA castings with the improved lifter valley reinforcements and the 4-bolt main provisions......plus perhaps a few other changes???? This was news for 1982 racing?????
Was there the Aussie casting borrowed for racing???
S
The heads were the "A3" heads, the blocks were the second (and final) batch of racing blocks cast in Australia. They may have "ordered" 1500 blocks, but there was a high rejection rate from the casting run, due to cylinder wall thickness issues. Nothing near that number were actually placed into inventory.
Notice there is no mention of the existence of the Motorsport/SVO program. That's a very early news blurb. Getting Ford back into racing (Ford Motorsports) and back into producing specialty performance cars for the street (Ford SVO) was one of the accomplishments of Philip Caldwell, the fellow who took over the helm of Ford after Henry Ford II stepped down (circa 1980). The race parts were inventoried via the racing program, i.e. Ford Motorsports.
1982 was the final year of production of the tall deck 351M & 400 in the US. It was also the final year of passenger cars equipped with the 302C & 351C in Australia. Cleveland engines were produced in Australia for other applications through 1984 (those other applications include fleet vehicles, marine applications, and stationary applications).
So the rejection of the block castings would be after they were delivered from the foundry to the machining plant?
Is the "pillow block" GF block the final version?
Hi Doug
I would assume the bores had to be machined before the cylinder wall thickness could be measured. The pillow blocks were indeed from that 1982 casting run.
The blocks rejected by US Ford were not scrapped, they ended up in Australian passenger cars.
I just recently saw the sonic test results on a late racing block still in Ford cosmolene and Ford Parts crate. None of the thicknesses were less then .280" and they were all uniform.
Considering that the D2AE-CA blocks are no thicker then .180" new, how much off does the casting need to be to be rejected?
I was surprised to see that the test results were attached to the block. If your process description is accurate (and why wouldn't it be?), the sonic testing must have been done here before machining but I'm thinking, why wouldn't that all have been done in Australia and the failed blocks, salvaged by using them in production vehicles and just replaced with more castings for racing?
With casting thicknesses like the racing block has, it's got to be overkill to begin with. The bulkheads are huge and there is more metal added everywhere with things like solid oil pan rails.
It was impressive to look at but the guy wanted $3,500 firm. What's the point of that with the new aftermarket blocks available now?
This is what the plate looks like
Those 300-or-so thickwall racing 351-C blocks (marked XE-192540) were rejected in the U.S. for NASCAR use, shipped back to OZ and used in high-po street cars including a few wide body Panteras from DeTomaso in Italy, where they worked just fine.
@bosswrench posted:Those 300-or-so thickwall racing 351-C blocks (marked XE-192540) were rejected in the U.S. for NASCAR use, shipped back to OZ and used in high-po street cars including a few wide body Panteras from DeTomaso in Italy, where they worked just fine.
Here's one that didn't get sent back. Want it?
https://www.facebook.com/marke...tem/4336375373109730
Look at the casting date. '76-7 was when I was building my first Cleveland. My parts guy had one in stock for $750 LIST!. He'd give me a special deal? Asked me if I wanted it? Who knew?
......oh crap.....where did my wife hide my credit card.....!!!!????
Nice piece. Even all sonic'd out!
S 
@mangusta posted:......oh crap.....where did my wife hide my credit card.....!!!!????
S
He's got a sonic test chart that shows no less then .280" on any wall thickness.
He's about an hour from me. I'm tempted but then it's a stroker crank and which rods so it doesn't stop at the block and anyway, you're safe, it's cash only. No credit cards.
Apparently though it's still available so you never know? I'd have to think other Cleve-ites like me are thinking the same thing on the price?
