Hey guys! I bought a new set of points to put in my daughter's '61 yesterday. The parts guy at "O'Reilly's asked me if her /6 had the Chrysler or the Ford distributor......?

I bought points fo the Chrysler and guess what - they don't fit! The breaker arm will not allow me to re-install the retention screw!

Also, there is a little blue plastic transistor thing that was riding atop the old points.....? Is this a condensor or a noise suppression type deal?

Has anyone else had this problem? Do I need to buy Ford points?

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Canadian-built '61s used a Prestolite distributor. It's nothing at all to do with Ford; the counter guy was being dumb. Most of these Prestolite distributors take NAPA Echlin CS-723 or CS-723A points, but some of them take CS-721 or CS-721A, so pull the distributor and check for ID numbers (Chrysler and/or Prestolite) on an aluminum tag on the side. IBR-4203 is the most common Prestolite distributor, and takes CS-723/A. Condenser's the same, rotor's different, cap's the same.

Can't say what you're looking at on the strange capacitor thing, without a photo.

A switch to electronic ignition would obviate the whole issue, but would likely call for some charging system upgrades on your '61.

You'll also want to put a real air cleaner back on this engine...

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