Distributor Advance Curves for H Series

mojojojo78

Active member
I am not even close to getting my engine put back together, but one thing that I have been wondering is about the carb and distributor for the 226 H Series. I know this came with the Load-O-Matic distributor and needs the matched carburetor.
Will an Autolite 1100 from a 65 Mustang work. It does have the spark control valve and uses the load-o-matic.
I was also looking at the programmable MSD 6AL ignition box. For that you just need a trigger and it will figure the advance based on graphs the user inputs. So with this system what would be the advance curve?
What would be nice about the MSD is that you can keep the stock distributor but be able to run different carbs. I could run dual Strombergs or do a single two barrel.
 
mojojojo78":3tt8wdct said:
I am not even close to getting my engine put back together, but one thing that I have been wondering is about the carb and distributor for the 226 H Series. I know this came with the Load-O-Matic distributor and needs the matched carburetor.
Will an Autolite 1100 from a 65 Mustang work. It does have the spark control valve and uses the load-o-matic.
I was also looking at the programmable MSD 6AL ignition box. For that you just need a trigger and it will figure the advance based on graphs the user inputs. So with this system what would be the advance curve?
What would be nice about the MSD is that you can keep the stock distributor but be able to run different carbs. I could run dual Strombergs or do a single two barrel.

Yes the 65 Mustang Autolite 1100 could work ok though may be a bit small I would look for one off the 240 big six they are a larger carb. Since your building more of a Hot Rod then a stocker. Yes the MSD 6AL or there are others were you could lockout the distributor and then program your own advance curve. Or I would probally just ditch that old LOD distribor and work at adapting a newer better one that has both centrical & vaccum advance, like a Dura Spark II off a 300 Ford. Setting up an advance curve is possible on your own though it takes time and is the old trial and error way to find out what your engine combo likes. We also have a couple members on the site that have the machines to do distributor work to tune the advance curves of the the DSII and HEI distributors. Good luck :nod:
 
Another useable distributor is the one off slant six Chrysler engines (the leaning tower of power). They are available with points, or can be equipped with Pertronix boxes, or are available with Chrysler electronic ignition. They have both centrifugal and vacuum advance. The shank fits into the distributor hole in the H 226. The drive would be a sleeve welded or pinned to an old distributor drive shaft from an H and connected to the Chrysler distributor with a suitable roll pin through the original hole in the Chrysler distributor shaft. No welding needed on the shaft so that the distributor need not be dismantled. Suitable shims or accurate placement of the pin hole will control distributor shaft end play. Nothing would have to be machined except the sleeve and it would NOT need to be a press fit on the distributor shaft or the Ford drive shaft. A really cheap way to go, especially with an engine that is not expected to exceed 5000 rpm. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you Flatford6. I was wondering what distributors would be adaptable without a lot of work. I am going to look into the dodge slant six distributors.
 
As a correction, the slant six distributor will need a slightly smaller shank (about a thirty second of an inch) which is easily accomplished without dismantling the distributor by chucking the body (cap end) of the distributor in a lathe and reducing the shank as needed.

The Chevy six (194, 250, and 292 cu inch) fit in the H bore and come in point and electronic types and have centrifugal and vacuum advance. The HEI types fit but the shank is so long that the distributor body sticks WAY out from the block. These need more work on the drive end to fit in because of the length of the shaft.

Remember that any substitute distributor must turn in the same direction as the original Ford one.
 
Update on this topic! I have successfully fitted an autolite 1100 to a 226h. Here is how I did it. bought a cheapo carburetor from amazon. Get what you want for this, I got cheap because this was an experiment..but it worked good. https://a.co/d/0Dr1gqA. Open up the carb and remove the main jet. It will probably be bored out to .064, put it on a drill press and bore it to about .076, and put it back. Also, while your drilling, you will need to drill out the top of the two mounting holes in the new carb to fit the bigger bolts from the 226h, the holes taper smaller at the top, but the bottom to 3/4 way up are pretty good size, just find a bit that fits there, and finish drilling it out, its about an 1/8th of an inch that needs drilled. Find a tube that fits both the underneath bracket of the air filter housing, and the top of the carb, and measure the distance from top and bottom of the old carb, and then measure the distance from top and bottom of new carb, and cut that tube to fit. I had an old aluminum tube from a solex carb from a jeep carb, and used it. I had to cut it down about and inch and half. It fit perfectly. Then simply mount the new carb. everything will line up good, you will have to re-bend your fuel line to fit, or put in a new fuel line between the carb and pump, I took the time to add a filter between. the choke cable should fit nicely, a little different angle, but not a problem. The throttle linkage will need to be tightened a bit, I tightened mine about 1/2 inch. Also, I hollowed out my oil bath filter (top only), and put a new style filter in there. Turns out a filter from a suzuki samari fits perfect. now I have better performance, she starts hot or cold, she doesn't die when I stop or make a hard right turn, and no more annoying seepage from around the float chamber. She performs better and runs smoother.
 
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