I've had a MP distributor in my GTX for years..with no problems whatsoever. It was modified to eliminate the vacuum advance feature..with the canister plugged off.I replaced the pick-up assembly..which required removing the plate,that the assembly gets attached to. To do that,I had to disconnect the vacuum canister from the distributor body. My question is..does the arm,on the vacuum unit,have to be attached to anything..or can it stay unattached,without interfering with the rotating weight and spring assembly? Thanks in advance for the info! Randy B.

I leave the vacume advance pod hook to the pickup plate to keep the plate stabilised You could rivet or bolt the upper and lower plate together also Either way will work

I did one light, one heavy spring, kept the vac advance hooked on and it worked really well on the street.

-Daty

As said, the arm prevents the upper plate ("breaker plate", though there aren't any breaker points there anymore) from moving even when the advance can isn't operable.

If you'd like to eliminate the can for appearance reasons, and still keep the distributor, the easiest way to do it is drill a hole through both the upper and lower plates, then run a screw/nut through both pieces. To keep the two plates square to each other, use a washer/spacer the same thickness as the round nub on the advance arm between the two pieces. Then the pod can be left off, and a little piece fabricated to cover the hole.

It's been done before, at least.... I could swear there is a racer with an A body on here who did that but forgot who it was

If the plates are welded together instead of the above (which can also work), be careful the ability to change out the pickup in the future isn't lost.....

Thanks for the info,everyone!..I'll just re-attach the arm to the top plate! So..I just have to seperate them with a screwdriver..to get the nub on the arm to lock into place?

Thanks,Bob!