I have the following question about the Distributor of the 318 engine:
The 318 of the 1959 Plymouth belongs to the small block “A” – serial. Later small block engines, I guess from 1964 up, belong to the “LS” – serial. My question:
Does a LA Distributor fit on our engine (318 of 1959)?
A single point distributor has one cable from the distributor to the coil. An electronic Distributor has 2 cables (see picture). Where must are these two cables be connected and what exactly is necessary to change the stock single point for an electronic Distributor?
Dan:I’m in Boothwyn,between Philly and Wilmington.Anyhow,I went
to my local
NAPA and bought a rebuilt distributor for a 64’318.
(Yep,the 64’318 is the same A-engine as ours.) The Pertronix kit fits
60’to 72’MoPaR single point distributors which swap into the early 318.I
told the NAPA clerk"64’318"just to give him something specific to
look up in
his books.The 58’unit is an Autolite.They both fit the 318 we
have,but their
internals are different.So.I converted the NAPA later model
distributor to
the Pertronix kit and just dropped it in.Easy!There are 2 wires th
attach.One goes to the negative side of the coil,the other to
the"ignition
switch"side of the ballast resistor.The instructions are clear on the
wires.The car fired up instantly!!Cold starts were usually a two
crank cycle
affair,not with electronic ignition,though.
The MoPaR performance kit works,but is expensive.I paid
$30-something bucks for the distributor and
$70-something for the Pertronix kit from Eastwood and had the car running
like a top in about an hour.I spent alot of time on wire
routing,making it
look pretty.I feel it’s well worth the time and easy to do.
wow, great tips and advice!
I used to own a '59 Ply 2HT w/ 318. The timig ws all over the place…the distributor needed re-bushing. The repair shop temporarily replaced the original distributor with a much newer unit (sorry, can’t recall the year) and the car ran much better. I sold the car about 11 years ago, so the details have faded from my memory. I do recall having the original distributor re-bushed. I have not tried the Pertronix electonic ignition..I have been trying to stay as original as possible. Ive heard the Pertronix parts can be craftily concealed…
