DISTRIBUTOR I.D.

Quote from chucks302

This is not a hi-po distributor but would like to identify it ,i know its a ford motorcraft reman small block ford 302 distributor .the casting number on the lower shaft case is C9ZF 12131 A ,the casting number next to the motorcraft casting near the top cap hold down clip is 12127.it has the extra lower shaft bushing, dual vacume advance,a ford dura spark pickup, the only date code is 75 with 9 small dots in a circle at the bottom of the dist case below the o ring area which is sept 1975, the dist gear has purple paint on it. thanks for the help in advance.

Part number C9ZF-12131-A is exactly what you state, a casting number. What goes in front of and follows the 12127 is the application part number. Look real carefully at the prefix and suffix of 12127. It was stamped at assembly and may be very faint. Many distributor rebuilders beadblast the hell out of the housing in their process. They should be taken out and shot. The date code is located under that number and may be faint too.

Jim

Maybe the distributor was a "blank" body that wasn't configured for a specific application, so it wasn't stamped with a complete part number at the factory. Someone could have added the guts later to use it on an engine. I don't know if Ford sold just the distributor bodies or not. Maybe some of our parts guru's can chime in about this.

Parts books illustration point to the distributor body with an asterick for the base number. The asterick says, "SUPPLIED IN 12127 ASSEMBLY ONLY". So, you could not buy a blank distributor body. That's not to say one couldn't slip out the back door....