What does it look like? Paragon catalogue shows the wire type, says it is for '60 to '69. They don't list one (nor does CC) for '59 and older. Thanks. Pat
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Re: '59 distributor hold down clamp
Pat, et al-----
Well, that was pretty frustrating. I prepared a detailed response to this question and covered the history of small block distributor clamps from 1955 to the present. However, due to an "internal server error" that's been lost forever. Anyway, I'll provide an answer to your question in a much abreviated version of the original post.
I believe that 1955 through 1959 Chevrolet V-8s used distibutor clamp GM #3704912. This was a stamped steel clamp.
For 1960, the clamp was changed to the "wire type" which used a seperate retainer. This clamp was GM #3772532 and the retainer was GM #3770598. The GM #3704912 was discontinued from SERVICE and replaced by the 3772532 on November 1, 1960 for all 1955+ applications.
Sometime during 1968-69, but certainly before the end of 1969 PRODUCTION, the clamp was changed BACK to the GM #3704912. The GM #3772532 was discontinued from SERVICE in November, 1969 and replaced for all 1955+ applications by the GM #3704912, the part that it had replaced in 1960. This is a VERY rare type of thing in the world of GM parts.
The GM #3704912 continued to be used in PRODUCTION through about 1979. At that time it was replaced by the GM #14007385. In June, 1984, the GM #3704912 was discontinued from SERVICE and replaced by the 14007385 for all 1955+ applications.
The GM #14007385 was used in PRODUCTION through about 1993 (1991 for Corvettes which did not use a conventional distributor for 1992+). It was then replaced by GM #10096197 and in January, 1994 the GM #10096197 replaced the 14007385 for SERVICE of all 1955+ applications. The GM #10096197 continues to be available in SERVICE today for a measly $1.29 GM list.
So, how does the configuration of the 3704912, 14007385 and 10096197 compare? Well, there are minor differences in configuration but all three are very similar. Installed on the car, I don't think that 99.5% of the judges would be able to tell the difference.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Thank you Joe, VERY much. *NM*
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Re: '59 distributor hold down clamp
Joe,
I don't normally have enough information in my brain to make a very long post, but I've found it helpful to type out a long responce first on a Word document. I then file it and just copy and paste the text into the field of my post here.
This does a couple things. I can run spell check on the Word doc and it remains availible on the my hard drive for easy retrieval the next time the question pops up.
tcComment
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Mid May 1968, stamped steel. Terry *NM*
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