what is unique or special about the 1111480 distributor?

[BULLITT65]

I recently discovered my car does not have a 1111480 distributor, which is unfortunate.  I am curious what is so special about the 1111480 distributor, my car runs fine with the gm distributor that is in it I think I looked it up and it is 67 distributor for a 350. If any of you guys could help me understand the differences I would appreciate it. I have seen guys asking anywhere from $500 to $3500 for an original 1111480, stating they are rare, but didn't these come in all 69 z/28's? so wouldn't there be at least 20,302 of them out there not to mention the extras that GM would have had on hand at the parts counters? why would these go for so much?

[firstgenaddict]

The 532 advance cam in the distributor is a long slot which is different from the low HP versions.

[JohnZ]

The distributor housing, points, condenser, rotor, and cap were the same for all engines. What generated the different part numbers stamped on the housing was the many different combinations of advance cam, weights, springs, and vacuum advance can.

There were many other 1969 distributors that had a longer slot in the cam than the one in the 480 distributor, which provided more maximum centrifugal advance in other applications - see the detailed distributor specs chart in the back of the 1969 Chassis Service Manual.

The 480 distributor just happened to be the part number assigned to the Z/28, with its own combination of cam slot length, weight configuration, springs, and vacuum advance. Other than how those elements were combined in the 480 distributor, there's nothing "special" about it.

[BULLITT65]

Ok, so each stamped number wether it was the 1111480 or another stamping just designated the internal parts called out for that distributor body. The 1111480 were made in batches like the wheels then once a month or were they made more often during the month? Also how far in advance of my build date would the distributor have been dated? or should I be looking at the engine casting date?

[Petes L48]

For a distributor you should be looking at engine assembly date, at least a week prior according to JohnZ on this older thread:
http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=3868.0

If you have a 1111168 (67 L48) in your car now, those are fairly rare and bring decent money to someone looking for a particular date. 

[BULLITT65]

You know I will have to check what it is. I would like to find a replacement distributor before I sold the one in the car. I will check the number again I couldn't find it in my chevy by the numbers book. ok it is either a 1111439 or a 1111438 with a 7 3 date i think. I know it is a 1967 date not sure of the day of the month. In the chevrolet by the numbers it calls out both of those as 68 part numbers though. It is an aluminum distributor, and I am not sure if both those part numbers correspond to the aluminum dist. what do you guys think?

[lakeholme]

This may explain the CBTN references.
The 68 service manual lists
1111438 for 327/350 Corvette L79
1110439 for L6 250/155 Camaro, etc
It does not list 1111439.

[Kelley W King]

the corvette would be a tack drive unit.