anyone know where i can get a stock tach drive distributor for a 73 350 4spd.or a complete rebuild kit.i did see an hei distributor w/tach drive on e-bay for around $60 and was wondering if anyone tried one.i'm just looking for something stock nothing fancy but would like the tach drive.

 

Be carefull of those distributors as there has been mixed opinions on this forum. I am in a similar position and have been watching for a factory 73 dist. but for now I have a mallory unilite electric tach, with the factory tach cable laying on intake till I do the switch. I am going to remove points and install protronics internals so factory tach works and still have modern ignition. My original one has a broken gear and not sure if it will effect tach or gear life. Thats just my 2 cents worth.

 

you don't need a specific '73 model year distributor. Any year tach drive points distributor will work just fine and it can be recurved with whatever advance curve you want/need in it.

adding a Pertronix kit to a points distributor does not give you a "modern ignition". Pertronix units and other similiar electronic conversion kits do NOTHING in terms of performance or any added value over a correctly set-up points system. In fact, overall, points are more reliable with less percentage of failure rates than the electronic conversion kits so by removing points and installing an electronic conversion kit you are spending money, losing overall reliabilty, and not gaining any performance advantage. The only advantage is saving you approx 10 minutes a year that you would no longer have to check/adjust dwell and check/adjust timing (I do it every spring when the car comes out of winter hibernation at the same time it gets an oil change, etc).

If you really want to spend money on a new distributor and want to actually go with something that would be considered an upgrade than look for a tach-drive factory HEI unit. At least with those you get an increase in voltage and spark activity - not that you would even need it unless you have some really major modifications to your motor

 

Look at DUI. They tune the distributor to the specs on your engine. A plus if you are like me and want something to work well enough out of the box so you can drive it instead of spending more time in the garage.