MSD distrubtor in a Ford Fairlane

[clausskou]

Hi,

I am thinking of using a electronic distributor and then I found a MSD 8383 distributor. Will it fit a 57 Ford Fairlane without major rework?

Best regards,

Claus

[shopratwoody]

I don't know the MSD numbers. If it's made for your engine,why wouldn't it work?
Ron

[KidKourier]

Claus,  I installed a MSD #8383 plug and play dist. in my "57" Courier  (sedan delivery), it's longer in length then stock so I had to cut the 1" lip at firewall about 8" to get it to slide in, which leaves the rear 2 plug wires on the cap almost against the firewall and just below the lip I cut making removel from the cap a bit ackward. It works great but if were to do over I'd go with stock distributor and a Petronix Distributor points replacement module or some other brand distributor(check overall length compared to stock) cuz now I have to weld up the lip (2 piece), grind the weld,and repaint the area . Most people don't notice but anyone in the know and myself do,so this winter(2 months in Calif.)I'm going to cut the rest off and smooth  the firewall and repaint! Hope this helps! KID

[clausskou]

Kid, thanks. But how was it that you had to do all this work just to replace the exisiting distributor?. Isn?t the MSD suppossed to be the same size as the original? I would expect that no matter which distributor is used, there should be sufficient clearance towards the firewall.

Best regards,

Claus

[KidKourier]

Claus,  As we all do we like to up grade to better technology to make our vehicles preform or more reliable. I wanted to do away with the points in the distributor but the stock distributor point lobes were worn and shaft was sloppy so I switch to the MSD! During install, I didn't read the small print that stated that some modification would be necessary, like you said it should fit it's only a distributor right! I found out that the MSD is taller than stock which is the reason I had to modify the firewall lip! Perhaps your motor is down in back a little more than mine, but this is what I had to do to get it to fit on mine( I'm running a 292c.i.) Take the #8383 dist., measure from the dist. hold down bracket to the top of the cap at the plug wires then check the measurment on your stock one and see if there's a difference! KID