Im hoping someone could help identify a distributor that I retreived from a super six Volare , the tag is still on it and is stamped with these numbers
20 7
3874876
The dist. looks good and has practically no wear and has a 11 vacumm can on it. I noticed when looking at the emissions sticker it called for 12 degrees initial advance which seemed high(for a factory setting) but also leads me to beleive that it also has a short centrifugal advance which also leads me to think that it would be a good dist. for the elect. ign. conversion on my wifes 63 Dart with a 170 cube engine. What does everyone think?
HyperValiant

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1960 Hyper-Pac Valiant(rolling test-bed)
1963 Valiant V2OO(Son's summer project,- he just turned 15 )
1972 Valiant 4dr(Daughter Kelly's repair in progress)
1974 Valiant (v8) daughter Kelly's work in progress

I don't know those #s, but that should be an excellent dist. I asked for a 78 Aspen dist when I bought a rebuild for my 64 Dart. It has much less mech advance than earlier ones and an 11 vac can like yours. In fact, I didn't even recurve it to run

I steer clear of the early dists.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Yes, the aspen/volare distibutor is a very good start. I am using 2 of them, and I will share my experience. I can't relate to owning a 170, so others may have more specific info. I can't tell by the numbers, but based on your description and my experience, you have reasonably identified the unit.

My 1980 aspen has run 18.96 in the quarter mile with the factory dist set to factory spec. Full super six, Ported head, badly worn block with poor compression.

My 1985 truck is heavy and doesn't have an EGR. On flat ground, the engine really pulls good. Far better than the lean burn did.

When the motor is cold, it will lug going up hills unless I really stomp on it. It is also very prone to ping when pulling a load or climbing hills.

I believe that the 11 vacuum can is too much without an egr and on my heavy truck. I suggest you replace it (the vacuum can) with something less agressive and then don't be afraid to push 12-14 initial advance. The only other vacuum can that I could find new was a 6.5, and I have not had a chance to test it yet. I think it will be a good change.

You will notice that your carb will need completely re-adjusted due to the change in timing at idle. Don't expect to drop it in and drive without dialing it in for a few days to get your best economy back.

Finally, I recently built a distributor for a member of this board. I started with the same item as what you have. I was worried that later down the line, some mechanic would 'correct' the timing back to the factory spec. To avoid some problems, I rebuild it for 22* of mechanical advance and 8* of initial timing, with the 6.5 vacuum pod. This should offer an easier dial in from the factory spec, offer good performance, and still run reasonable if it is mistakenly retarded a few degrees by a misinformed mechanic.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

The 3874876 distributor was used on most Slant 6 Federal and Canada emissions eqipped cars from about 1977 - 1980. Yes, the 12º base timing is correct for that distributor.

Thanks Fellas,the car that this dist. came from is a 78 4dr and was a freebie,which netted me the aformentioned dist.,asuper six setup with some of the linkage(the trans and rear are missing) a really nice windsheild far a 4dr f-body,and assorted trinkets,all for a $50 tow bill.
as far as the dist. goes I beleive Ill stab it in and run it as is to begin with.Ill also be hooking it to a MSD Blaster ignition($112 at Advance Auto) which will be another experiment (Ill let y'all know how it goes).
Thanks again
HyperValiant

_________________
1960 Hyper-Pac Valiant(rolling test-bed)
1963 Valiant V2OO(Son's summer project,- he just turned 15 )
1972 Valiant 4dr(Daughter Kelly's repair in progress)
1974 Valiant (v8) daughter Kelly's work in progress