1955 distributors

[John S.]

chevy part manuals show a corvette distributor as #1110855 and the passengercar being #1110847. in the judging guide it states later cars appear to use the 1110847. some early 55 owners also believe their cars came with the 1110847 distributor. having a later 55 what distributor number should i show on my tag? i was ok with the judging guide use of the 1110847 until several owners of later 55s mentioned having 1110855 on their tag. a date code of 5d7 is also showing up on several 855 tags.

[John H.]

Re: 1955 distributors

chevy part manuals show a corvette distributor as #1110855 and the passengercar being #1110847. in the judging guide it states later cars appear to use the 1110847. some early 55 owners also believe their cars came with the 1110847 distributor. having a later 55 what distributor number should i show on my tag? i was ok with the judging guide use of the 1110847 until several owners of later 55s mentioned having 1110855 on their tag. a date code of 5d7 is also showing up on several 855 tags.

John -

The 1955 Engineering Bill of Material for Flint V-8 shows the Corvette "FG" and "GR" engines using the 1110855 distributor, and the passenger cars using the 1110847.

[William C.]

Re: 1955 distributors

If it helps, the Delco Remy "Car Application Index" dated May 1959 shows the 1110855 for a '55 Corvette applications, and the 1110847 as Pass car, with no reference as to the use of '847 on Corvette. Makes for a LOT more 847 availability. It would have taken Delco Remy about 1/2 day to make enough '855's for the entire '55 Corvette run, although it's more likely they were built off the main line in smaller batches.

[Tyler T.]

Re: 1955 distributors

From Chev by the numbers.

http://deliquescence.net/~tyler/misc/55%20dist.jpg

Also note it also says mech advance.

Tyler

[Roy B.]

Re: 1955 distributors

OK here is what I believe
Pic at the top is a #847 (first design) notice the area that the hold down plate sits in a grove. The early Dist will always be dated 1954 and used on early Corvette.( How many people have ever seen one like this)
Bottom pic. Is a #847 (second design) always dated 1955 and up and again notice the area that the hold down plate can slide on. Used on mid year 55's.
The #855 Dist has a cut out for a VA but not all of them did, this used a VA but no vacuum line. Late 55's.
The #855 can have dates from late 1955 up so how can it have been used in early 55.

So I believe there were three different design Dist for a 55 Corvette. As there are three different design VA for a 55.
I've found a lot of early papers being wrong before.
Any comment is welcomed

[John S.]

Re: 1955 distributors

since the passenger cars used the 847 there are a lot of first design distributors with the 1116085 vacuum control. i have this combination on six early distributors and their date codes go into mid january. by mid march the 1116104 vacuum control makes it appearance on 55 distributors,(info. given by joe lucia), so that would probably end the production of the 1116085 vacuum control. by at least early april there appears to be the second design distributors being produced with #1110855 stamped on the tag. i believe a good number of these were put out on april 7 ,1955. i have come across that number four times. two of the four belong to bob johnson and dave suesz, whom have posted on this site. dave suesz presently has the #1110855 5D7 with a #1116098 non operating vacuum advance in car number 518. vacuum control #1116104 is listed in the parts book as the vacuum control for the #1110855 distributor with a notation. "may be necessary to plug outlet on corvette". this to me is verification that the 855 distributor had a non operating vacuum control. i do not believe the 104 was originally on the corvette, but it continued after 55 as a service replacement.