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I have a 1956 Mercury Monterey 2 door hardtop with a 312. I want to buy a Pertronix billet distributor #D135700 Ignitor 2 from Speedway Motors. When I did a "does this part fit my Mercury" I get this message from Speedway "this part may not fit your Mercury". Now forgive my ignorance but I always thought aside from sheet metal and some trim Fords and Mercury's were the same and it follows I don't see where the Y blocks would be different. Now is there a difference or not? Has anyone used this distributor? Oh, I forgot to mention...Speedway says all Pertronix ignition parts/distributors
"may not fit".
FIRST off is to say that MERC is absolutely beautiful ...
The reason that DIST will not work on a 56 MERC or FORD is that the IGN SYS you have is LOAD-O-MATIC and the DIST is designed for the DUAL ADVANCE SYSTEM begun in 1957.
You can either upgrade to the later DUAL ADVANCE by using a later DIST (1957/ ) and a CARB that will deliver a PORTED VACUUM SIGNAL, or there are PERTRONIX upgrade kits for your present LOM DIST. If you go with the 1957/ DUAL ADVANCE DIST SYSTEM, it will give you a huge performance gain.
Thanks for the compliment. It has an Edelbrock 500cfm sitting on an adapter plate from Speedway motors. It ran fine for several years this way...until it didn't. Since I read your post, which I thank you for, I just had a thought. Since I am using a modern day Edelbrock carb instead of the 50's era Holley then wouldn't I be able to use the distributor in question? Surely this distributor will fit the motor. It does not need the stock vacuums. Right? The entire electrical system has been replaced with a Ron Francis kit. All the engine needs are fuel, air, and spark. A quick search at Summit racing revealed the D135700 will fit the stock Ford 312 so if a stock '57 distributor fits the '56 Merc it stands to reason the D135700 would work in my Monterey.
Since I am using a modern day Edelbrock carb instead of the 50's era Holley then wouldn't I be able to use the distributor in question? Surely this distributor will fit the motor. It does not need the stock vacuums. Right?
Yes. You just need a PORTED VACUUM SIGNAL to the DIST off the EDELBROCK. The ported signal source should have a tube @ the carb base.
Thanks again for your response. I've been in the old car hobby for decades and I am well versed in Chevy bowtie and can actually do it all from engine work to body work and electrical. But I am also aware FoMoCo would change things mid-year and Mercury in particular is sometimes its own beast. I'm a little gun shy as it were. I saw this '56 Monterey for sale at a swap meet and had to have it. It had 49,000 original miles, spotless original interior, and the black is the original paint. The two tone was added sometime in its life. It was a well-cared for automobile. I appreciate your help.
I've been in the old car hobby for decades and I am well versed in Chevy bowtie and can actually do it all from engine work to body work and electrical. But I am also aware FoMoCo would change things mid-year and Mercury in particular is sometimes its own beast. I'm a little gun shy as it were.
There is therapy available to rid one of the dreaded BOW-TIE FEVER ...
Some info you may find interesting -
I saw this '56 Monterey for sale at a swap meet and had to have it. It had 49,000 original miles, spotless original interior, and the black is the original paint. The two tone was added sometime in its life. It was a well-cared for automobile. I appreciate your help.
I see you saw the light ...
I'm only funnin' with you ...
I see GM, MOPAR and AMC as the competition.
The 56 312 had a dual advance diaphragm. How did the car run without the proper signal from the SPARK CONTROL VALVE?
Try and save all the take-off as it is becoming scarce and you might want to return it to original in the future (increasing the value to the right buyer).
It ran. What I did was use the piece that screwed into the back of the 1950's Holley and screwed it into the vacuum port at the rear of the Edelbrock and made the connections to the distributor as before. Vacuum is vacuum and the old Mercury distributor didn't know the difference I'm guessing. Kind of like electrical stuff. If a part needs 12volts it doesn't care where the 12 volts comes from, as long as it gets the power when it needs it. I usually save my parts which aggravates Queenie, my wife, no end. My 'bow tie' fever isn't going away. I still have several in the garage. A '37 Chevy street rod, a 1967 Chevy ll, a 1963 Chevy ll, and Queenie's Corvair convertible. I do appreciate different makes and models. I've owned Mopars as well. I wanted a 1950's car and Merc was perfect to fill that desire. I willed the '56 to my daughter upon my passing. She loves the car. My new distributor will be here Friday. I'll let you know how it all turned out.
05-04-2024, 02:24 PM
Difference between Ford 312 and Mercury 312?
