I recently replaced my distributor and noticed that my distributor hold down clamp is pretty beat up. It's one of those cheapy chrome aftermarket ones, and you can see where the clamp is bent up because the chrome is crumpled.

Anyhow - after looking at the online parts suppliers I see that there are clamps that attach either via stud -or- bolt. Anyone have any recommendations? This will be holding a Pertronix Billet Distributor to an aluminum Edelbrock Performer intake. I can't see how either would be better for preventing stripping to the intake if I'm looking for a specific torque measurement.

As a side note, I haven't really noticed any problems with my existing clamp not holding. It just looks a little ugly and I'm trying to clean up my engine bay now that I have a shiny new distributor (and replacements start at a couple bucks).

Thanks in advance.

 

take the chrome one off scuff it up and paint it the color of your engine block...

 

The chrome aftermarket crap is usually lighter weight than stock. If it looks like it's bent under tightening the bolt down, throw it away and replace with a serious racing grade part or an OE piece.

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

Any preference of the stud vs. bolt for the attachment?

 

As a quick follow-up, I purchased a Mr. Gasket Distributor Hold Down for about $6 (stud style). It looks nice, however it is about a 1/16" too small and doesn't fit around the distributor base. I plan on using the bench grinder tonight to complete.

Lastly, I just wanted to correct myself regarding the concern about aluminum intake. As everybody probably already knows - the distributor hold down bolts directly to the engine block! No worries about stripping over torqueing the aluminum...