TI Distributor & Coil Questions

[Howard P.]

I have acquired a TI Distributor and new in the box GM coil for which I'm told is a service replacement. I would like to get some input as to these parts as there are some peculiarities.

The coil is # 12337166 it is marked Made in Mexico and has a low gloss finish. It appears to be a plastic material rather than the bakelite and metal like my original.

The distributor has no collar band but does have # 204146 stamped into the shoulder of the housing where it would meet the block. There is a "30" in the casting of the body adjacent to the tach drive housing. The tach drive insert is secured with a set screw, and there is no vacuum advance provision (it is not machined to accept one). The harness leads from the body are Red and Black and appears to be a silcone coated wire with standard connector as on my # 1111259 distributor.

Does anyone know what application it was intended for ? I will guess it was a GM Delco Remy service replacement part but due to the lack of vacuum advance must be for a race application or perhaps marine ?

Any information would be appreciated

Howie

[Bill I.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Howie, if the stuff was made in Mexico, it's not in any way GM NOS. I doubt it was made for a Vette, because of no vac. advance. Bill.

[Wayne M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

....Any information would be appreciated

Howie -- is there any comparison between this '263' ball bearing GM racing distrib and yours ? Note no provision for vac advance; stationary pole magnet assy. is bolted directly to the cast iron housing. You can see the cast # '41' directly above the aluminum band. Are the teeth of the lower camshaft driven gear sloped upward to the left (ie. for reverse rotation camshafts) ?

[Howard P.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Wayne

Yes it looks just like the one you have pictured. The gear is not iron but brass on the one I have. I will have to check if reverse cut ..... its out in my shop.

Mine has a # 30 on the body

Do you think it is a racing unit ? How common are these and exactly what were they intended for ? Do shafts etc interchange with the regular TI units ?

Thanks Wayne

Howie

[Wayne M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Howie -- not much is interchangeable; only the brass fitting for the tach drive and the tach gear --- the rest is unique to the 1111263 racing design.

Here's a few pics; racing version on left vs. LT1 distr (typical T.I. production) on right (in pics where 2 are shown).

[Howard P.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Thanks a lot Wayne, you've been a great help !

Howie

[Timothy B.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Wayne, Am I correct to assume chevy sold these for racing applications to Nascar etc. How long were these units available in service?

[Terry M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

NASCAR, in spite of turning left all the time, uses engines that rotate in the normal direction. Boats with dual engines often use one engine rotating in reverse. The why is a long story, but those reverse rotation distributors were intended for marine application.

[Clem Z.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

the engine was not reverse rotation just the cam shaft because it only use 2 gear drive which reversed the cam rotation. just change the gear on the bottom install the correct thrust washers and it will work in a standard rotation camshaft engine. the 2 gear drive high performance cam was a over the counter cam sold in the 60s+ to prevent chain stretch problems in long distance races. i still have some 2 gear drive cams and gears. i think the original use for the gear drive was heavy duty truck engines.

[Clem Z.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

NASCAR, in spite of turning left all the time, uses engines that rotate in the normal direction. Boats with dual engines often use one engine rotating in reverse. The why is a long story, but those reverse rotation distributors were intended for marine application.

now days they reverse the prop rotation in the out drives not the engines.

[Terry M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Clem I was told one of the pair of engines rotated in reverse to simplify the gearbox that mated the two engines to a single prop. Was i told wrong?

[John H.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Clem I was told one of the pair of engines rotated in reverse to simplify the gearbox that mated the two engines to a single prop. Was i told wrong?

Terry -

At least in the late 60's, there were true reverse-rotation engines; we had a 1967 46' Chris-Craft Constellation (double-planked mahogany hull) with twin 482 BB Chevy V-8's (either Mercruiser or Crusader Marine), and one was reverse rotation. Also had the optional auxiliary tanks (510 gallons total), and it needed them; at full throttle, the fuel flowmeters turned so fast you couldn't read the numbers .

[Terry M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Ah, John thank you. Then I wasn't lied to.

[Wayne M.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Wayne, Am I correct to assume chevy sold these for racing applications to Nascar etc. How long were these units available in service?

Tim & Howie -- as for the ball bearing (race) 1111263, the subject has somehow drifted (pun intended ) into the marine realm.

Here's some info for its usage on 4 wheels. This is from the Camaro racing website; highly recommended reading for those interested in K66. Here's an excerpt; for the full story use this link

http://www.camaros.org/trans_ign.shtml

quote "An alternative distributor was also listed. This is the highly prized ball bearing distributor PN 1111263. This heavy-duty version was initially released for the reverse-drive camshaft 427 big block racing engine. It has a special ball bearing on the upper part of the mainshaft instead of the usual bronze bushing. This distributor has an iron housing with a mechanical tach drive and has a special reverse-drive distributor gear that permitted clockwise rotation of the distributor in this special 427 engine. It specified 13 degrees maximum mechanical advance at 1900 RPM. This distributor did not have a vacuum advance feature; the plate inside the distributor was fixed in position. (This distributor was still listed in the 1991 Chevrolet parts books, for $1,699.05!)" end quote.

The '263' was always-over-the counter (OTC), starting in 1967, and listed in Chevrolet's Heavy Duty parts catalog. Joe L. could probably tell us when the # died.

Howie -- any chance you could post or email me pic(s) of your distr. (and I could post for you) ?

[Clem Z.]

Re: TI Distributor & Coil Questions

Clem I was told one of the pair of engines rotated in reverse to simplify the gearbox that mated the two engines to a single prop. Was i told wrong?

most all twin engine boats have twin props and the reason they want them to rotate in oposite direction is to prevent the the boat from torquing in one direction if both props turned in the same direction.