What Distributor Do I Have?

[gmharris]

I recently attempted to buy a vacuum advance for my '63 WM300 that I have had for a few years. The engine is a 251 with a serial number of R25 39868C The engine has a casting date of A121 (Jan 12, 1961, I believe) so the engine is not the original engine.

I went to Napa, but it was obvious that the vacuum advance they had listed for a WM300 was not the vacuum advance I needed.

They then showed me a rebuilt distributor they said was right for Power Wagons of my vintage. Instead of having a straight shaft like mine (photo) it had a nylon gear on the bottom.

I looked in the Vintage Power Wagon Catalog. My distributor looks more like the one they show for a military vehicle. However the quick tip said that the tang was offset on military vehicles. My distributor has the tang centered on the shaft.

The distributor number is IBR4002. This is apparently a pretty rare distributor. I was only able to find a few references which seems to indicate it was used in industrial applications.

If you have any information pertaining to this distributor I would appreciate it. I particularly need to know if I can replace it with another, more common distributor. Would, for instance the IBR4001 or IBR4003 distributors work. Also, if this is not a Power Wagon motor, I would like to know what it came out of. Or.....is Napa just wrong.

Thanks,

[Charles Talbert]

Definitely not from a military vehicle. A military distributor doesn't look at all like your photo. I've rebuilt several from '63 WM300 trucks, all looked like your photo. I think you have the correct unit for your engine, vacuum advance unit may be obsolete & hard to come by, not sure on that. VPW should have a replacement advance unit if anyone would.

We offer complete rebuild service if that is needed, can also convert to all electronic for you.

[gmharris]

More information on my distributor.

The search for a vacuum advance for my distributor has come to a happy ending.

First, Charles Talbert was right, the distributor I have is not, of course, a military distributor. I had looked at the on-line Vintage Power Wagon catalog. The verbiage describing the military 24 volt distributor is immediately to the left and on the same level as the civilian distributor. I recognized that the distributor above was a military distributor, but thought that the distributor I have may also be a military distributor. That was incorrect. The printed Vintage Power Wagon catalog does not have this same misleading (incorrect?) juxtaposition.

My distributor has the smaller 3 1/8" diameter cap. The parts that Napa said I needed did not fit my distributor. And, the rebuilt distributor they said should fit a 251 Power Wagon engine had a large nylon gear on the bottom of the shaft. This was obviously not going to work for my engine.

The Napa guy was nice enough to spend some time rummaging around in the parts bin and found a rotor, condenser and cap that fit.

The vacuum advance was another thing and I had no lead on where to get one. Eventually, I started e-mailing people on ebay who seemed to be in the business of selling old vacuum advances.

Finally, I ended up dealing with a lady (lisakenr@shaw.ca) in Canada who sells old vacuum advances. This was a fortuitous occurrence. I had left out one salient item of information. The distributor I have was made by Auto-Lite for Chrysler of Canada.

I had figured that either Power Wagon distributors of this vintage were usually made in Canada or that the Canadian version would be a direct copy or interchangeable with the U.S. version.

According to the lady in Canada, the U.S. and Canadian versions use different vacuum advances. She sent me a vacuum advance, VC235, which is a perfect match for the one I have on the distributor.

Another supplier said to look for Numbers 2084858, CH712, VC-38X Filko, VCA-51 Guaranteed Parts. The Canadian lady said these numbers fit the U.S. distributor only and would not fit my Canadian distributor. I'm offering these numbers only as possible numbers which may work for someone else. They haven't been verified.

I'm posting a photo with the parts I obtained and their numbers. (Echlin is NAPA's more expensive line, but you can get cheaper) These vacuum advances are not easy to find and they are not inexpensive.

[oldmopar]

IBR4002 list as the following in my Hollander manual

[gmharris]

More distributor stuff

Thanks for posting the information from the Hollander manual. Didn't even think of that. Course, I don't have a Hollander manual anyway.

The Hollander manual explains the number I have stamped on my distributor ID plate: 2095957 It's the Chrysler part number. Looks like the IBR4002 was a factory installed distributor. Wonder why it was so hard to find info on it.

By the way, the complete Distributor number is IBR-4002B3U "Chrysler Corp of Canada LTD, Auto-lite, Made in Canada by Electric Auto-lite LTD, Sarnia. So, it's not the exact distributor listed in the Hollander manual, but maybe, a Canadian Cousin.

Now for another question: Were a few, a lot or most WDM300 Power Wagons equipped with Canadian distributors? Did only power Wagons delivered in Canada have Canadian distributors?

If anyone has there distributor out, I think it would be interesting to find out what model distributor your PW has and where it was made.

[oldmopar]

I have a spare 230 engine that came out of a late 50's early 60's ffpw. If I get time this weekend I will check the distributor number.

[oldmopar]

Now for another question: Were a few, a lot or most WDM300 Power Wagons equipped with Canadian distributors? Did only power Wagons delivered in Canada have Canadian distributors?

If anyone has there distributor out, I think it would be interesting to find out what model distributor your PW has and where it was made.

The distributer in my spare engine is
iay4012 a1
Chrysler 1889598
made in usa
engine # starts TP23 cast date 1959
This engine had the carb with the governor

[gmharris]

I have noticed a number of similar Dodge distributors listed for sale on ebay. I wondered if these distributors would interchange with the one I have since they looked so similar.

I found this information in the Vintage Power Wagons catalog. "Distributors are interchangeable between same length engine blocks, but are not interchangeable between different length blocks (i.e. 230 vs. 251). Longer block engines (237,251,265) distributors have a drive tang approximately 1/4" longer than shorter block engine distributors (201,218,230)."

Military distributors have an offset tang and will not interchange with civilian models unless the oil pump is changed too.

Thanks to Vintage Power Wagons for this info.