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Does anybody know what brand the original distributor is in Cutlass F-85 1963 ?
I can’t find it in the manual. Bought a Petronix ingnition system but it didn’t fit on the breaker plate.
According the workshop it should fit my car/engine but it didn’t 🙁
Pertronix 91181 is the correct kit. That fits just about every Delco V8 distributor made in the 1960s.
Joe, do you know the difference between Pertronix 91181 and 1181? He says that it should be the same mounting on those two.
I got the 1181LS from the workshop, and it has the same mounting as 1181 according his reference.
But obviously it does not fit mine....?🧐
1181 uses a separate trigger ring that bolts to the underside of the rotor.
91181 uses a Hall effect sensor to trigger off the peaks on the distributor point cam and doesn't require the extra sensor ring. Mounting to the point plate is the same.
Post a photo of your distributor, as all Delco distributors of that period are the same and either kit should fit all of them. I installed a kit in my 215 distributor (it was not a Pertronix kit but a different brand) and no issues whatsoever.
1181 uses a separate trigger ring that bolts to the underside of the rotor.
91181 uses a Hall effect sensor to trigger off the peaks on the distributor point cam and doesn't require the extra sensor ring. Mounting to the point plate is the same.
Post a photo of your distributor, as all Delco distributors of that period are the same and either kit should fit all of them. I installed a kit in my 215 distributor (it was not a Pertronix kit but a different brand) and no issues whatsoever.
That's a stock distributor. The 1181 or 91181 should bolt right up. What doesn't fit?
Im going nuts, what is it I don’t get here?
The manual says that the middle hole of those three, should be in the condenser screw hole.
But I can’t get the holes match how ever I turn it...
I now noticed that my device is actually reversed from the picture in the instructions...
This is why I don't use Pertronix. The first thing I notice is that the base plate on your module is backwards from the one in the instructions. In the instructions the three holes are on the left, an on your unit, they are on the right.
The reality is that the clocking of the module on the point plate is irrelevant. If you can find two screw holes that fit, screw it down. All this will change is the initial timing, and you have to reset that anyway. It's interesting that this video doesn't even use the condeser holes to install the module. It's also interesting that in the video it's obvious that the module and plate don't sit flat on the distributor point plate and are being held up by one of the raise features on the plate, and they just screw it down anyway.
Well, apparently as usual, every aftermarket vendor assumes the rest of GM is identical to Chevy. I found this photo comparing the point plate from an AMC Delco distributor to a Chevy one, in a thread about your very problem. Looks a lot like yours. FYI, that thread didn't offer a solution. Personally, I think you can just drill a new screw hole if needed to attach the module wherever it fits best then set the timing as required.
This is why I don't use Pertronix. The first thing I notice is that the base plate on your module is backwards from the one in the instructions. In the instructions the three holes are on the left, an on your unit, they are on the right.
The reality is that the clocking of the module on the point plate is irrelevant. If you can find two screw holes that fit, screw it down. All this will change is the initial timing, and you have to reset that anyway. It's interesting that this video doesn't even use the condeser holes to install the module. It's also interesting that in the video it's obvious that the module and plate don't sit flat on the distributor point plate and are being held up by one of the raise features on the plate, and they just screw it down anyway.
How ever I turn it, it never fits two holes at the same time...
But if it the plate had been like the one in the instructions it might had fitted better.
So maybe I have to choose some other system instead.
Any brand you would recommend?
And one more. This is a Pertronix install in an AMC distributor also, and it claims that 1181 is the correct unit (along with the 91181 Pertronix II and the 71181 Pertronix III). Their baseplate looks different from yours.
And this is how my looks like 1181LS. I was actually happy that it was a lobe sensor unit. Doesn’t require to lift up the distributor for adjusting axial play with shims, if understand it
correctly.
Maybe the 1181 would fit better in holes?
Lets see if the guy in the workshop has any suggestions tomorrow.
Here you can see the base plates of each of the three different modules: 71181, 1181LS & 91181LS. Note the 1181 & 9118 have the x3 screw base plate while the 71181 does not. I have not read the application fittings in their entirety but you certainly don't have a 71181 plate (at least from these pictures).
Yeah, well crud...as soon as I refine the search on Pertronix to a 1963 then embed that link into this thread the link (URL) changes back to the default. At any rate, when I plugged in 1963 Oldsmobile only three Pertronix came up and one base plate was entirely different than the other two (as I previously noted).
You have the 1181LS series NOT the 1181. It states on the base plate (above) 1181LS.
Note the two Joe suggested should work just fine. But I suspect this (above) 1181LS will NOT work.
Below are the two images of the 1181 and the 1181LS
Pertronix lists all three of those (1181, 91181, and 71181) as fitting all Delco distributors. The 1181 is the Pertronix I, the 91181 is the Pertronix II, and the 71181 is the Pertronix III.
Agree, but the OP has an 1181LS. I can't state why the base plate is different, but obviously the image I stole from the Pertronix website demonstrates a different base plate for two different 1181 - one for 1181 and one for 1181LS. I didn't create the images.
Agree, but the OP has an 1181LS. I can't state why the base plate is different, but obviously the image I stole from the Pertronix website demonstrates a different base plate for two different 1181 - one for 1181 and one for 1181LS. I didn't create the images.
The only difference between the "LS" and non-"LS" units is that the "LS" stands for "lobe sensor" which means it uses a Hall effect sensor to detect the points on the distributor cam as opposed to requiring the magnetic sensor ring to be installed under the rotor on the non-"LS" series part numbers. Again, according to Pertronix, ALL of their "1181" series products are supposed to fit any Delco V8 window distributor. I have no idea why they have obviously different mounting plates, I'm just quoting the catalog applications.
The only difference between the "LS" and non-"LS" units is that the "LS" stands for "lobe sensor" which means it uses a Hall effect sensor to detect the points on the distributor cam as opposed to requiring the magnetic sensor ring to be installed under the rotor on the non-"LS" series part numbers. Again, according to Pertronix, ALL of their "1181" series products are supposed to fit any Delco V8 window distributor. I have no idea why they have obviously different mounting plates, I'm just quoting the catalog applications.
I hear what you are saying, yet I have researched the delta between each one of those modules and in every case the delta clearly demonstrates (visually) they employ a different base plate between the non-LS and the LS series. So, if the 1181LS doesn't fit, I would suspect it doesn't fit because it uses a base plate which is different from the non-LS 1181. I looked at each series on the Pertronix website - 1181, 71181 & 91181. Which one is the correct application I cannot say.
Of course, if it's on the Internet it has to be true...or not.
My Dad was not an engineer, but he did work for Bell Labs when MOSFET was discovered. I first read about MOSFET in the mid-60s. From that point forward I always purchased electronic components which employed MOSFET circuity. You ever try explaining to someone what a Quantum Hall Effect was in MOSFET circuitry if they didn't first understand the term perpendicular?
I hear what you are saying, yet I have researched the delta between each one of those modules and in every case the delta clearly demonstrates (visually) they employ a different base plate between the non-LS and the LS series. So, if the 1181LS doesn't fit, I would suspect it doesn't fit because it uses a base plate which is different from the non-LS 1181. I looked at each series on the Pertronix website - 1181, 71181 & 91181. Which one is the correct application I cannot say.
Of course, if it's on the Internet it has to be true...or not.
Again, the baseplates are different, but Pertronix claims that they all fit. I'm just the messenger. You'll have to ask Pertronix why they do this.
Most of my cars have points, and the one conversion I used in my 215 was by a company called Modotek Performance who apparently doesn't sell them anymore.
Joe, any chance that distributor, which I know you have already stated is a Delco V8 window distributor of this known era, is not in fact a Delco V8 window distributor but instead some off-brand distributor manufactured elsewhere. The OP is from Sweden, the vehicle is a 1963, what are the chances it is not a true or NOS Delco V8 window distributor? Just throwing it out there - that's 57 years for some off-brand to develop a look-a-like.
OK It was just a thought. Since that breaker plate may have come from anywhere and that distributor may in fact be a distributor someone "put together".
OK It was just a thought. Since that breaker plate may have come from anywhere and that distributor may in fact be a distributor someone "put together".
That's what the non-Chevy breaker plates look like.
What bothers me is that if you look at the diagram in the Pertronix instructions, the base plate is shown reversed from what it is on the actual part (three holes on the left, not the right). If the actual part were configured that way, it almost looks like it would bolt up.
I d/l'ed the .pdf for 1181 from Pertronix. I captured the image from the .pdf instructions. I reviewed the instruction manual image in Post #10. You see any delta between these two images?
I apologize - those instructions (above) are for the 1181LS. None-the-less, where did those instructions come from that they would be near mirror images of the module plate? WTH
The 1181 .pdf instruction sheet is entirely different.
Again, the LS series requires no magnet sleeve thus, there must be a delta between the types of ignitor plates employed between the two models (at least) 1181 & 1181LS?
The OPs instruction manual is of the exact same number as the one I downloaded - 0000-008774. The OPs ignition module clearly demonstrates via the stamp on the plate 1181LS.
The .pdf instruction manual I d/l'ed from Pertronix for 1181LS is labeled Figure 1; the OPs is labeled Figure A.
The location of the ignitor plate is reversed between the two instruction manuals. The wording is also different.
Thus far, I have nothing.
Hey Joe. Guess what? Every single 1181LS, 71181LS and 91181LS series module is listed as OUT OF STOCK.
Guess which ones are listed as ADD TO CART?
Me thinks someone screwed the pooch during manufacturing and placed the module on the wrong side of the ignitor plate. That's my story and I am sticking to it; albeit, all are listed as OUT OF STOCK with probably a very good reason.
June 22nd, 2020, 08:45 AM
