A while back for some reason I got curious about the numbers stamped on the small tag attached to Indian Auto-lite distributors.  What did these numbers mean?  To say they are a bit cryptic is an understatement.  Using Indian parts books, Auto-Lite service and parts manuals and with the help of members of the Starklite Indian mailing list, getting on my hands and knees looking at many original distributor tags and documentation research, I've been able to assemble the following chart.  It is by no means complete.

Note 1.  Your distributor tag probably has an alpha-numeric suffix following the stamped  IGB or  IGW number.  I think this is a date code of some sort but have been unable to break it.

Note 2. Based on original Auto-lite literature, I believe all Indian Auto-lite distributors numbers begin with an "I".  However a few original distributor tags have been observed beginning with GW or GB.  I believe this is due to poor quality control when they were originally stamped - the "I" being inadvertently left off.

Note 3. The advance given is distributor degrees (2 x engine degrees) and should not be confused with basic engine timing.

Note 4.  It has been brought to my attention that some Indian parts books list the same distributor advance control arm for all models (this is the part that determines the amount of distributor advance), twins and Fours.  This seems contradictory to the information listed in the table.  The number of degrees of advance may be stamped on your control arm.  My gut feeling is to believe the Auto-lite parts books over the Indian books.  The folks who make the parts should know more about them than the buyer.

Note 5. For the military 741s, most of the reports I've received state the IGW 4053 was used and this is backed up by the February, 1942 741 parts book.  However, a friend of mine has an untouched NOS 741 engine still in the Indian crate.  This engine has an IGW 4049 distributor.  This is a replacement engine with no serial number.  Hmm, more mysteries!
 

A special thanks to Perry Ruiter for help with the Indian part numbers and specs from his Auto-lite documentation.
 
 
 

	Indian P/N	Auto-lite Number	Cylinders	Rotation	Condenser	Degrees of manual Advance	Cam Dwell Angle	Notes
1933 Four	*	* IGB 4005E	* 4	* RH	* .20-.25 mfd	* 25	*
1934 Four	* 100628	* IGB 4005E	*  4	*  RH	*  .20-.25 mfd	*  25	*
1935 Four	* 100628	*  IGB 4005E	*  4	*  RH	*  .20-.25 mfd	*  25	*
1936 Four Chief Std Scout Sport Scout Scout Pony	* 86061 86058 86058 86058 86058	* IGB 4005E IGB 4105A IGB 4105A IGB 4105A IGB 4105A	* 4 2 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 25 25 25 25 25	*
1937 Four   Chief Std Scout Sport Scout Junior Scout	* 86061   86058 86058 86058 86058	* IGW 4019A IGW 4047A IGB 4105A IGB 4105A IGB 4105A IGB 4105A	* 4 4 2 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 25 22.5 25 25 25 25	*
1938 Four Chief   Sport Scout   Junior Scout	* 86061 86059 ? 86059 ? 86058	* IGW 4047A IGW 4049 IGW 4046 IGW 4049 IGW 4046 IGW 4048A	* 4 2 2 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 25 18 25 18 25 18	*     39   39
1939 Four Chief   Sport Scout   Junior Scout	* 86061 86059 ? 86059 ? 86058	* IGW 4047A IGW 4049 IGW 4046 IGW 4049 IGW 4046 IGW 4048A	* 4 2 2 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 25 18 25 18 25 18	*     39   39
1940 Four Chief Sport Scout Thirty-Fifty	* 86382 86059 86059 86058	* IGW 4047B IGW 4049 IGW 4049 IGW 4048A	* 4 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 22.5 18 18 18	*     39 39
1941 Four Chief Sport Scout Thirty-Fifty 841 741	* 86382 86059 86059 86058 76216 86759	* IGW 4047A IGW 4049 IGW 4049 IGB 4048A IGW 4165A IGW 4053	* 4 2 2 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd 20-.25 mfd	* 22.5 18 18 18 Automatic 18	*     39 39     39 39	adv. 15deg @925rpm
1942 Four Chief Sport Scout Thirty-Fifty 741	* 86382 86059 86059 86058 86759	* IGW 4047A IGW 4049 IGW 4049 IGW 4048A IGW 4053	* 4 2 2 2	* RH RH RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 22.5 18 18 18	*     39 39
1943 Chief 741	* 86759 86759	* IGW 4053 IGW 4053	* 2 2	* RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 18 18	* 39 39
1944 Chief 741	* 86759 86759	* IGW 4053 IGW 4053	* 2 2	* RH RH	* .20-.25 mfd .20-.25 mfd	* 18 18	* 39 39
1945 – 53 Chief	* 86759	* IGW 4053	* 2	* RH	* .20-.25 mfd	* 18	* 39

 
 

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