What the heck is this????

Clay Harrison

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So clearly I have no idea what I'm doing!
While we're rebuilding the 66 motor I decided to order a tune up kit from rock auto for the 78 440 that's in the car now. It's running a little rough and I'd like to be able to motor it around to get it sorted mechanically.
The plug wires are in bad shape so today I started replacing them and realized the distributer cap I purchased isn't going to fit this NAPA distributor????
Has anyone ever seen one of these? I'm having trouble gathering any info on this unit.....

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Aftermarket dual point aluminum distributor. Made by Echlin, a NAPA company that supplied American performance products back in the day.
 
I'm usually pretty good at finding stuff but this one had me stumped.
Thanks again for the assist!
 
As mentioned, Echlin was NAPA's ignition line. The performance end of that was ACCEL, initially. Until ACCEL became it's own entity in about 1970 or so. One of those "hidden secrets", at the time. NEAT find! Congrats!
 
Sooo…. Turns out 2 distributor caps and two rotors later that the Distributor in my 78 440 is listed as a dual point corvette/gm dizzy???? Anyone ever heard of such a thing???
 
Sooo…. Turns out 2 distributor caps and two rotors later that the Distributor in my 78 440 is listed as a dual point corvette/gm dizzy???? Anyone ever heard of such a thing???
It's an aftermarket distributor. Echlin dual point, same as an Accel dual point of that vintage. Echlin owned Accel and some parts were sold under the different names.

If you are trying to match the cap up to a production Mopar piece, forget it. It's not gonna happen. But, it doesn't surprise me at all that a GM cap would be the replacement. They design and standardize from the breaker plate up, up, then build the rest of the housing and shaft to fit the application. You'll find that cap/rotor/points/ used in all the Accel/Echlin applications. Ford, GM, AMC, Mopar etc.
 
prestolite was (is) an OE supplier. their distributors and other parts were (and still are) used in many applications, automotive, industrial, marine...
Yes. but that's NOT a Prestolite distributor.
 
Thanks guys! Makes sense now. I finally spent some time with a guy at the local NAPA store and we think we have points, rotor and cap on the way to the store that will fit this thing..The current cap is broken.

I'm just trying to get it tuned up so we can get it where we need it to be when the need presents itself. Looks like Easter weekend we'll have new plugs, wires, and the stuff we need for the distributor. Then we start digging into the brakes/suspension!
 
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