Farmall Cub

My 1958 140 distributor needs new "Governor" springs. I call it centrifugal advance. The tractor is several miles from my computer and I did not have the parts catalog with me when I read the number from the distributor. With the distributor on the tractor, the numbers cast into the body of the distributor appear to be 363898R1. My doubts and questions arise from the fact that the parts catalog shows no such distributor number for the 140.
I do plan to read it again after more cleaning and with the aid of a mirror.
Is the 363898R1 an actual part number or did I read it wrong? If actual, any idea what the part was used on initially?

I think you misread one digit. The distributor housing 353 898 R1 was used on most IH tractors with battery ignition. Having that number does't help on determining the right springs. The mounting flange at the base of the distributor is stamped with a symbol that indicates what version the assembly is. For an early 140 like yours, the symbol should be "AB". Later ones were symbol "T". In either case, the symbol will be followed by 2 more characters that seem to be date codes.

If you have the "AB" distributor, the replacement spring package is 372 785 R91. That should be a package of 2 springs. When you open up the distributor and remove the springs/weights, you will be able to see a number stamped into the plate of the shaft assembly. The number indicates the maximum advance and rotation. It should be "22L" for the "AB" distributor. If you happen to have a "T" distributor it will be "14L".

If you don't have the hard copy parts catalog for the engine, go to the CaseIH web site. Do the search for parts and look up the 123 engine. A search for 353 898 R1 will get you the page with most of these numbers.

I do have the print version of the parts catalog. ENG-1 dated 8'79. After reading your response and the catalog, I believe that I now understand. The parts catalog lists four different spring sets, but by looking at the distributor assembly part numbers, it is clear that some of these are for the 100, the 130 and the late model 140. I am, as always, deeply grateful for the enlightenment.


Additionally, the Numerical Index in my parts catalog shows 353 898 R91. Obviously that distributor housing was revised in some manner later in production. The R1 on mine is evidence of it being the first and earliest version, thus more likely to be an original for the 1958 model.

My lists show "R11" but not "R91". An "R1" is an individual piece part, in this case the bare distributor housing. The "R11" part number is a subassembly of some type with the "R1" part being the main part. In this case, the housing assembly 353 898 R11 "consists of (1) bushing (NSS), (1) housing (NSS), (1) o-ring 252739R1, (1) plug 125947, (1) retainer 353899R1".

An "R91" is a higher level assembly, for example 372 712 R91 is the entire distributor. Revisions of parts change the "1" to "2" then "3" in a way that would take most of a page to completely explain.