Front Distributor for Chevy

Old 01-23-2014, 06:21 AM
  #1  
jreiley
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Default Front Distributor for Chevy

What do I need to do to move the distributor on a bb to the front of the engine.
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Old 01-23-2014, 08:10 AM
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TheYellaBrick
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http://www.jegs.com/p/MSD-Ignition/M...61249/10002/-1
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Old 01-23-2014, 09:56 AM
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coloradoracerguy
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Your other option is a rcd gear drive with front mount dizzy setup. Jesel setup mandates use of a crank trigger and doesn't allow for much in the way of accessories. The question is, what do you have, what is it used for, and why do you want a front mount dizzy for? The conversion, regardless of which one you do is very expensive and there is no performance gain from it. Only real reason to do it is clearance issues in a tight chassis. It's not needed or worth the cost for anything other than a high end deal.
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Old 01-23-2014, 12:05 PM
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RCD make one that drives off the front of the cam, can be bought at good viberation, also can mount injection pump on it.
I run a Summer Bros. on my 1471 super charged sm/blk, but you'll have to call them to see if they are still making them, they did sm/blk and big blk front distributor drives.

http://www.summersbrothersracing.com/

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Old 01-27-2014, 07:14 AM
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jreiley
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The only reason for installing a front distributor is strictly for clearance.
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Old 01-27-2014, 08:23 AM
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curtisreed
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Could you use one of the MSD crab caps and a crank trigger? They are much shorter.

http://www.msdignition.com/Products/...stributor.aspx


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Old 01-27-2014, 12:35 PM
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Unless you're putting that BBC in a Dusenberg, notching the firewall with a pre made, rivet in assembly would be a hellova lot cheaper . . . and simpler.

About the only reason one would really need a front distributor would be because you're making spare parts at above 8000 RPM with a Magneto. A mag pulls so hard on the back end of a camshaft at high RPM that it progressively retards the valve timing and Ignition timing. A Mag will pull so hard it will actually twist the cam . .

We discovered that back in the mid-late 60's in a Jr. Fueler with a 310 inch SBC. But back then there was no fix. At least for the Chevy's. But the guys with the 354's and the 392's jumped on it and If I remember correctly, Dave Zeuschel built the first front drive timing cover for the 392 . . That by itself kept a lot of those 6-71's in one piece and on the engines . . .
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Old 01-27-2014, 05:28 PM
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coloradoracerguy
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Originally Posted by roadkill2
Unless you're putting that BBC in a Dusenberg, notching the firewall with a pre made, rivet in assembly would be a hellova lot cheaper . . . and simpler.

About the only reason one would really need a front distributor would be because you're making spare parts at above 8000 RPM with a Magneto. A mag pulls so hard on the back end of a camshaft at high RPM that it progressively retards the valve timing and Ignition timing. A Mag will pull so hard it will actually twist the cam . .

We discovered that back in the mid-late 60's in a Jr. Fueler with a 310 inch SBC. But back then there was no fix. At least for the Chevy's. But the guys with the 354's and the 392's jumped on it and If I remember correctly, Dave Zeuschel built the first front drive timing cover for the 392 . . That by itself kept a lot of those 6-71's in one piece and on the engines . . .
We broke a cam like that in our pro mod in Alaska. Popped about half track. New Century block, 55 mm cam, Pro Mag 44 in an offset drive......racepack showed it let go at about 9100ish......broke right in front of the distributor drive gear. Next event we had an RCD gear drive and front mount for the mag.....problem solved, but it wasn't cheap......
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Old 01-28-2014, 05:08 AM
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Heh, heh, it's really hard to imagine how much torque is required to spin a high output Mag. Back then we were blowing up the back end of the engine and scratching our heads as to why. A guy in Keith Black's shop told us about the cam twist and we thought he was sh*tting us . .

That was about the time the first front drives for the early Hemi came out . . I can't remember if we saw one that year at the winternats or it was the next but it was in the mid sixties . .

Now we gots computers!
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