1968 Chrysler LM318 Distributer

barr, from the data tag, i would venture to GUESS that may be a MoPar,or OEM dist.A Mallory or Prestolite would have a different tag............boat dr

If the ID tag says Chrysler, that's what it is. That's a pretty old distributor so there is a possibility that that particular distributor doesn't have a electronic conversion kit for it. I had a Mallory dist. in my boat and it just happened to be one of two models that did not have a kit available for. I checked with Pertronix, Accel, and Mallory. I even called Mallory and they offered to make up a conversion kit with parts that they could find laying around the shop. The only problem is that I had to take out the dist. and ship it to them. If I ended up having any problems with it, I would have to pull it out and ship it to them again. I decided to purchase a MSD dist. and ignition setup and I just put that in. It was more pricey, but I was doing other work on the engine at the time and it made more sense for me to be able to get parts and be able to fix it myself instead of making the boat unusable for a couple weeks at a time if I ever had an issue. Definitely worth every penny and no headaches of changing out points, condensers and anything else a$$ociated with a point distributor. Whatever you have to do to make the conversion, DO IT!!!!

I have the same distributor on my chrysler, I called pertronix and they gave me the same model number 1581 for the ignitor and 91581 for the ignitor II.

I'm replacing the points with the ignitor II, the coil, the wires and the plugs. I'm hoping it helps, the existing plug wires are original equipment, manufactured 4th quarter of 1964!

If you give me a week or two I'll be able to tell you if the module fits in the distributor, I ordered the parts yesterday.

65'Cuda, have you installed the ignitor 2 kit yet? What do you think of it? Thanks,Jim B. `

I ordered and received my pertronix unit.When I took apart the old distributer I found excessive shaft bushing wear(max shaft movement according to the manual is.006", mine had .010"). I think I'm going to return the pertronix module and trade for a new complete pertronix Flame Thrower billet marine distributer unit.I'll post the results when the job is complete. Jim B.

79, Sounds like a plan, let me check on parts availablity/prices and get back to you. I'd much rather save the money and spend it on other areas of the boat. Jim B.

I checked with what i consider a good parts source and they tell me the bushing kit has been discontinued (does'nt mean none exist ,just harder to find). I have a few other sources and will check to see if they can help. I also was going to replace the springs on the mechanical advance, believe it or not, they cost $24.00. I'll disassemble the distributer as you suggested, mic the parts, and check my other sources for the bushing kit. Might just be easier to replace the thing and get it over with, we'll see. Thanks,Jim B.

Also check your phone book for some speed shops or engine rebuilders, they are used to doing this work and if your lucky, they'll have a distributor machine to check out the advance.
79- It sure is getting hard to find those decent auto parts stores,here in the suburbs of Chicago,those auto parts "box stores" are running the mom and pop stores out,just like walmart does in their field.You know what happens next,"it's not in the book sir, so it can't be done"

Looks like the best way to go is total replacement of the distributer, thanks all for the suggestions and offers of assistance . Jim B.

All you have to do is swap gears on a stand roation dist with the gear from your rev rotaion dist to make it work

So your saying it's a worm gear instead of a helical gear then? and the wrom gear id machined into the shaft?

jim did you see this one on ebay

318 dist

Barr68,

Not sure if you've got this resolved but I have dealt with Murley Marine, he helped me track down a new Chrys 318 block for my 65 'Cuda. He actually found a new unused block somewhere in Canada, still in the crate!!! Helped me build up the new engine and did a great job for a reasonable price. Very knowledgeable and would recommend him anytime!!
(BTW for those who may doubt that the block was unused or original, I did check it with 3 other good mechanics and they were shocked when they were unable to prove it wrong:-))

Tom

Hey Barr,
I know this is kind of an old thread, but... But you never told us how the distributor worked. I'm looking to to the same thing to my 68 Barracuda, and am wondering how you fared. Thinking, I'm not that far from you and could check those guys out if they treated you well.