480 distributor - date specific

[enio45]

what would be an appropriate dated 480 distributor for a 9D (sept of 69) built Z?

[NorCam]

I think May dates are amongst the most common found in late 69 cars, and I believe August was the latest run made in 69 but have never seen one myself. My blue 10E car had a 9E16 stamp. Those are the 2 months for late built cars as I have come to know Eddie.

[enio45]

Reason for my ask, my 69Z 9D car as ref above, has a 9A20 dated 480.

I've been told this is too early - it is a real 480 and was to believe it was orig to the car as all the other parts on the engine were. Having said that - you never know if and what.....at the legends judging - i got dinged for this, so if this is off the radar and not seen, im not going to fight the fight and go with what is accepted. Ill have to buy one and sell the one i have......trying to assess what others have seen on their cars and feel is appropriate.

Appreciate the thoughts and thank you Graeme for your input as well.

[X66 714]

Sent you a pm Eddie...Joe

[jl8z28]

That is earlier but most likely the correct one i talked to my friend who worked at the GM plant in Baltimore he said the bins would be close to empty the vendors would fill them and earlier parts would be in the bottom so they could end up in later cars that's the problem all these judges think they know everything

[William]

Known dates for Sep '69 builds are 9E13 & 9E16.

[the427king]

Eddie. My old vietnam z had a 9a20 and it was late sept 69 build. I wish z guys would stop telling everyone there is one possibility for every z. LOL! I get calls all the time for 480s and buyers always say they only want the last date available prior to thier car..because theyve been told that.

[enio45]

Yes i agree with all the above - and feel confident of the distributor that is in there......so going thru my points deductions i was looking at things that can or feel like correcting - or not.

Chuck, loved that white Z you had and interesting to hear of the date on that dizzy.

I recall seeing a few 9H's out there as well.....kinda like the 9H alternators......they are few and far between, but out there.

i'll keep trolling on this to see what else becomes obvious.

Thank you for the input

[enio45]

Update on this - it now seems that the 9A20 date on a late 69Z is accepted by the judging staff. There have been a number of examples in the JM data base as well as current cars that are deemed original drivetrain that have the same date.

I do agree, this is NOT always the norm - when product dates vs build date are wide apart, but some are still valid with the proper documentation and historical info.

Another example to the opposite of this is my 69Yenko car BE rear is dated after the trim tag build date - this is because the BE's were on backlog and had to get caught up with the production - thus the yenko car had to sit a week waiting for the BE rear to be finished.

I guess the never say never when if comes to certain component dates - representative examples and an open mind helps. I understand the judging manual is to be updated to reflect the distributor finding.....and i can get 14 points back on the judging sheet!

[Lynn]

I have seen more 9 A 20 480 distributors than ANY other date over the years.

[William]

Another example to the opposite of this is my 69Yenko car BE rear is dated after the trim tag build date - this is because the BE's were on backlog and had to get caught up with the production - thus the yenko car had to sit a week waiting for the BE rear to be finished.


Not my intention to nag, that is a common misconception. The trim tag bears the date the production order was released by Fisher body. It is only a general indicator of the cars' final assembly date as Fisher did not always observe A-B-C-D-E coding. For February '69, they did not use C or E; 02D spanned 22 calendar days. ZL-1s #3 - #39 have 02D tags; none of them were built in February.

If your Yenko is one of the 02D cars [N613xxx] with a BE0305 axle, it was probably final-assembled March 13, 1969. That's plenty of time for the 260 mile trip from the axle plant in Detroit to Norwood, OH.

[NorCam]

It's interesting how the dating can work. My 02D car (N607xxx) has a BU0224 diff and as near as I can figure as of just last week, the car likely started down the line on Feb 28 (Friday) and would have finished up on Monday or Tuesday (Mar 1/2) and was shipped on Mar 3rd.

Love trying to figure this stuff out.

[enio45]

It is funny, but important as we try to figure this out in retrospect...as a group, i think we do a really great job with research and polls figuring this stuff out.

Cudos to all the enthusiast we have helping out!

[the427king]

Been saying it for years. Actually ive seen less 9a20s for sale than any other date 1111480