1968-69 Distributor Clamps

[Joe L.]

Incidentally, as a follow-up to a recent post, I'm curious as to what style distributor hold-down clamp (either "wire" type or stamped steel type) that folks with 68 and 69s, and reasonably sure their cars still have the original clamp, have on their cars. This would apply for both big blocks and small blocks, although please specify which as well as the approximate build date of the car.

[Greg L.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Hi Joe, My car has the stamped steel clamp. The car was built Jan31/69 and the engine(390hp) was built Jan16/69. All engine components are original except for the alternator and carb so I assume that the hold down is original too.

[Dave F.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Joe,
My 68 L79 with TI has the steel clamp - early June production.
Dave

[Mark #28455]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

L71 assembled 10-31-68 stamped steel
L89 assembled 2-17-69 stamped steel
325/396 assembled 2-69 stamped steel
LS5 454 assembled 3-70 stamped steel
Had several 1969-70 300HP/350's >15 yrs ago, never saw wire type,

Hope this helps,
Mark

[Jim T.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

My original owner 68 327/350 February build date has the wire type hold down clamp.

[Kurt B.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Joe,
I have the stamped metal hold down clamp and I am second owner. Engioe is L79 327, my car was built May 10, 1968. Distributor is original distributor that came with the car. I purchased car from close friend so pretty much know the history and that it was original when I purchased it in 1972.
Kurt

[Everett Ogilvie]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Looks like we have a can of worms here Joe - I think the judges are usually looking for the wire type (just my impression, and Dickie can help with this), but it looks like we have some data here for the stamped type. What part number(s) are in the '68 and '69 AIM? My 427 has the stamped piece and it is an early '69 car (Nov. 5 '68). It HAS been restored so there is no confidence whatsover the piece is original. When comparing my configuration to a similar engine at the Waco Regional this past year, that car had the wire type (late '69 car, maybe August or so of '69). I am interested in hearing what the judges are looking for, before I change mine out for the wire type.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Thanks all for the information. It gives me some additional faith in my recollection of things. While several sources indicate that the "wire" style clamp was used through 1969, I've never seen a wire style clamp on any 1969 engine that I've looked at, Corvette or otherwise (these clamps were by no means a Corvette-unique component; the same clamps were used on all other Chevrolet V-8s). So, just on the basis of the limited sampling here, I'd say that it confirms my observations, and I really doubt that any wire clamps were used for the 1969 model year.

As far as 1968s go, I don't think that I've seen a wire clamp on a 1968, either. However, from your reports, it looks like they were used for some time during 1968. That's not surprising, either. First of all, 1968 might have been a "transition" year with respect to these clamps. Second, I really haven't looked very closely at a lot of 1968 engines, so I could easily have missed the fact that some had the wire type clamp.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Everett----

No part numbers for the clamp are shown in the AIM's; the clamp was installed at the engine plants. I really think that the stamped steel type is correct for your 1969.

[Paul B.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

My 42,000mi original '68, build date March 19, 1968 has the stamped steel clamp.

[Roger Legge]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Late June build 68 L79, stamped steel, not original owner, very original car.

Roger

[Everett Ogilvie]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Shortly after I posted I realized the hold down (and distributor) were installed at engine build (except I believe when K66 was installed as an option on engines where it was not mandatory - K66 shows the distributor installation in the AIM). Guess I will keep the stamped steel part, although I have recently heard judges looking for the wire type on '69 cars...

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Everett-----

During the 1965 to 1968 period, many K-66 installations involved a distributor EXCHANGE taking place at St. Louis, but none involved the installation of a distributor and associated parts to an engine which was supplied from the engine plant without such components. Consequently, the distributor clamp was always part of the engine assembly as received from the engine plants and is not shown in the AIM.

If the judges are looking for the "wire" type clamp for 1969s, then I'm about 99.999% sure that they're looking for the wrong thing.

[Joe L.]

Addendum

Anticipating a follow-up question: what happened to the distributors which were removed from engines at St. Louis? Answer: they were shipped back to the engine plants and reused. That's one of the reasons why some distributors may show a longer-than-normal "interlude" between distributor manufacturing date and engine assembly date. Some distributors made TWO seperate trips to the St. Louis assembly plant. Who knows---there may have been some that made THREE OR MORE trips.

[John H.]

Re: 1968-69 Distributor Clamps

Joe -

My '69 Z/28 (Flint engine, February 1969) has the stamped clamp.