1940 Cadillac LaSalle distributor

[1940 lasalle man]

Dear sir
     I am currently restoring a 1940 322 c i flathead v-8 and the last piece to my puzzle is where i connect the vacuum advance from the distributor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.    Sincerely   M McDonnell

[Steve Passmore]

This connects to a small fitting at the front base of the carburetor,  IF you have the correct carburetor and distributor. earlier cars didn't have the vacuum. I don't know what year they were introduced.

[Doug Houston]

The first year for the new engine was 1936. There was a vacuum advance on those engines. Then,fromm1937 through 1939, there was no vacuum control. In 1940, it re-appeared, and ran through1948. The same was so for LaSalle.

[Steve Passmore]

That's odd isn't it that Cadillac would only use it initially for one year, discontinue it then bring it back, but it explains why there isn't one on my 37 or 38, I do have one on my 36 but she has a 47 engine so that explains that.  1940 la Salle man should still have the relevant fittings then.

[Doug Houston]

When Cadillac returned with a vacuum control, they had the proper carburetor to go with it, of course.

I have a '41 carburetor and distributor on my 38-60S. That carburetor had the electric choke heater on it, while the earlier chokes had the vacuum heater on the right side of the engine. I will soon have a later RH exhaust manifold installed with the cast-in choke stove, then it'll be complete.

[Steve Passmore]

I too have later carburetors on my three cars 36, 37 and 38. I have only been lucky enough so far to obtain a distributor for the 36 to match it up. The 37 and 38 have the union blocked for now on the carb base. The 37 still carries its original manifold and I found that just having the choke pipe touching the manifold is sufficient to operate it.

[Jay Friedman]

Although it's not authentic, due to problems with my '49's automatic choke I installed a manual choke conversion kit instead.  It has a cable to a knob under the dash.  You can buy them in any auto parts store.  The manual mechanism on the carb is similar looking to the automatic choke components, so a casual observer shouldn't notice it.