Distributer Gear Question

I am replacing the points distributer in my 72 with a reman electronic from a 77. The auto parts stores are telling me there are two different distributers for that car. One with a cast iron gear and one with a steel gear.

How do I know which one to get??

 

Can't speak to 6 cyl, but if you have the '72 302 with stock cam you need the cast iron gear.

 

I'm thinking the steel gear didn't come out until '87...not '77
The inline six cylinders used a cast iron gear

 

The steel gear came out in 85, it was in a mustang gt witha roller cam. I believe it was the only duraspark to get a steel gear

 

Thanks for setting me straight on the year. I never needed to know what year it was but I did know it came about sometimes in the 80’s.

 

Thank you to all that responded to my question!!!! That clears that up..

 

The auto parts stores are telling me there are two different distributers for that car.

...wonder why they didn't know...

 

They dont know because the computer dosnt tell them. It shows both http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/s...year=1977&make=Ford&model=Maverick&vi=1132300 Maybe I will fix this tomorrow and get on A1 Cardone's ass and tell them to stop mixing these up. Just because one year shared both they mixed up something in the data file and combined them for other years. I can fix the Oreillys catalog but the other stores that use the same vendor will still be wrong until Cardone fixes their file and everybody gets updated.

I spend the first half of my day fixing errors like this that the stores report. Half the time its the vendor that is wrong. The other half is the employee or customer is looking up the wrong thing or think they know more then they do. Im actually surprised this hasnt come up yet. I remember seeing it wrong back when I worked in the stores.

 

Because they were hired to use a computer, not to know about cars.:16suspect

 

this was a...vendor question... not the person at the parts store.
would it be the same if you asked for a...fuel pump...for a '77? would they ask if it's...EFI or carbed?

 

I just spent an hour talking with my 2 main distributor vendors trying to get this sorted out and the catalog cleaned up for these distributors. Both of them need to do more research and get back to me Monday with a solution. I told them we either need to specify which camshaft the different gears are for or the correct route would be to only list it for what the OEM camshaft is in the specific models. If a 77 maverick only came with a cast iron gear distributor then all others should not be displayed. I will wait until monday to make the changes on my end. But I want to make sure the vendor data will be correct going forward and not overwrite my changes next time we are updated.

 

The only application for a steel geared Duraspark is the 85 Mustang GT with a manual transmission, the Automatic transmissioned HO motor for that year had a flat tappet cam and an iron geared distributor.

 

Correct, the pre '86 HO 5.0 automatics also used throttle-body EFI that had a totally different dist... The TFI ign module distributors can have either iron or steel gear depending on year and/or application...

 

I love getting parts for 50-60s cars.

You get that deer in the headlights look, and the guy that should be working at a parts store who isn't helping you in the first place just heads to the vault, dashes across the pit of death, jumps over the crocodile pit and comes back with a parts program made of paper with no search function.