'68 Big Block Distributor

[William S.]

My '68 400hp non-TI has a distributor ID band of 1111194, which is 300hp small block application. Is such a swap even possible ? For all I know, a previous ower may have put an incorrect replacement band on the distributor. I have double checked the number and am sure it is not 1111294, which would be for 390hp/400 hp with TI. If in fact it is a 194 unit, are there any deleterious effects I could encounter, other than some lost points in judging ?

Also, the three carburetors seem to have the correct arrangement of bolts and studs/nuts holding them to the intake manifold, but some of the nuts are lock nuts, which can't be correct. Anything special about the nuts used to hold the carburetors down, or are they typical hardware store variety ?

[Joe L.]

Re: '68 Big Block Distributor

William------

The 1111194 distributor will fit and, basically, function fine. Big block and small block distributors are functionally interchangeable. The differences between Corvette tach drive distributors involves only the centrifugal advance curve (auto cam, weights and springs) and the vacuum advance control. The distributor part number defines a certain configuration of these parts.

It's very possible that the distributor in the car started out life as the 1111194 but it's been re-curved. It's also possible that it's still in its original configuration and that configuration works fine for your application.