Distrbutor Swap Help
 

I have a '49 Willys Jeepster Street Rod that has been channled 5 inches over the frame and the HEI Distributor is to tall. I have never changed out a distributor before and need help. Does anyone know the correct procedure for swapping out a HEI distrubutor for a stock one, or shorter one, on a '77 Chevy 305. The HEI is is to tall and in the way of an aftermarket electric wiper motor I am using to replace the old vacuum motor.

crab cap ?
 

you might need a "crab" Distributor cap, My jeepster is on a Blazer chassis. It has had the original 4 cyl, 374 buick nailhead, 401 nailhead, SBC, Small block ford, and now the SB chevy again, , Somewhere along the line I had to cut out a hole in the firewall and build a recessed box and weld it in for GM distributor clearance, In My T bucket SBC I am using a Mallory dual points distributor with a "crab" dist cap. 4 wires come out each side of the dist cap. that style gives more clearance for 2 4 manifold carbs or blowers. I think I first had it when I had a 2 4 cross ram manifold. With that manifold the distributor had to be in the manifold and all go down on the engine at the same time.
To replace the distributor there should be a Wiki article, , batt cable off, remove the dist cap note which way the rotor points,, as you lift the distributor shaft will rotate a little bit because of the spiral gear, note which way it points when you get it all the way up, that is the way you need it to point as you put in the distributor in and it needs to point to the original direction when you get it all the way down, Changing to a points Distributor will require new wiring to match what you use, original points, ? after market points elimination kit? etc.

the hei isn't really any taller than a standard dissy.. it might be 3/4"
how much room you need,
you might need a msd blower dissy thats very short..

Distributor Swap help
 

Here is an article to read before you attempt to swap your distributor. http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w..._a_distributor Check out these caps to see if it is something you can use. Davis Unified Ignition Cap and Rotor Kits 36100BK - SummitRacing.com or Summit Racing® Distributor Cap and Rotor Kits SUM-G5225 - SummitRacing.com. The only difference is the type material the caps are made of.

someone makes caps with the towers that point toward the side instead of straight up.

Thanks for the info, Timothale. This will help.

Thanks for the quick reply, E.Furgal. I really need about 1/2 to 3/4 inch more room.

Thanks, CDMinter59. Great Web Site info on the swap. Also those caps looked like they my work, but I will have to check what type of distributor they go on. You guys are really coming up with good info.

Distributor Swap Help
 

Davis Unified Ignition Cap and Rotor Kits 36100BK - SummitRacing.com or Summit Racing® Distributor Cap and Rotor Kits SUM-G5225 - SummitRacing.com. These distributor caps and rotors fit the GM HEI distributors. They replace the coil in the cap style distributor cap. You will have to have an external coil.

These may do the trick, CDMINTER59. I will check them out.
Thanks

Hey CDMINTER59, I checked these out and Summit Racing say they only fit 1996 to 1999, according to their website. I guess the distributors must be different.

I check that out.They are for LT1 motors. The reason they don't fit early models is the coil-in-the-cap models have this L shaped screw with a spring. You push down the spring screw and lock the cap down to the bottom of the distributor housing. The newer styles have two screws that screw into the distributor housing.

Guess I will have to find some other way to deal with the problem. I will close this thread and want to thank all you guys for your input.

If you've not left yet...
 

One option is a MSD p/n 84891 dist. which has both a crab cap and a magnetic pick up. It requires an ignition box because it only contains a magnetic pick up (no module). More details: http://www.msdignition.com/Products/...stributor.aspx

Skip White (and possibly others) sells a small cap HEI that's a stand alone, self contained unit.