The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay HEI conversion to coil in the cap

First, I'd like to apologize for any bad feelings I have caused. I'm just trying to learn and I get frustrated when I don't understand what you guys are trying to tell me. No bad vibes were intended.

I'm going to take all of fixite7's HEI modification comments and see if I can put them into terms that I can understand. I hope that he will correct anything I get wrong and add detail where necessary.

A picture of the distributor with the stub shaft and bushing in place might answer some of the questions below.

Any measurements I give below are using my beat up Harbour Freight micrometer and should be taken as +- a few thousandths.

Any measurements were taken on my 302 GMC block and the short cap distributor (GM part # 1112362) from the GMC 228 in my '52 truck. Same number is listed for use in '52 216 Chevy engines. I know the Chevy and GMC distributors of this era interchange. The current distributor in my 228 started life in a late 50s Chevy 235.

fixite7 said: Found a 1975 remote coil HEI

me: What vehicle(s) would be originally equipped with this distributor and coil? What do I look for in a junk yard?

fixite7 said: Next step is to make a stub shaft to fit oil pump drive

me: Does this stub shaft have a slot on the top end to mate with the tang on the distributor shaft and a tang on the bottom to engage the slot in the oil pump? How long is the stub shaft? Is it the same diameter as the distributor shaft?

fixite7 said: extended bushing to support iron distributor gear.

me: Does this bushing cover the joint of the distributor shaft tang fitting into the slot of the stub shaft?

me: How long is the bushing?

me: I assume the ID of the bushing is just a few thousandths larger than the distributor shaft, right?

me: What is the OD of the bushing?

fixite7 said: Ended up reversing the distributor gear with a .030 shim washer above it

me: I assume this is to move the teeth on the gear further down into the hole so they will line up with the gear on the cam.

fixite7 said: made an oilite bronze spacer to ride on the block below the gear

me: Is the purpose of this spacer to provide a positive stop at the proper insertion depth for the distributor?

fixite7 said: roll pinned the spacer and a .375 LONGER (the caps are Bill's) stub shaft

me: Both the spacer AND the stub shaft are pinned to the distributor shaft?

me: The .375 is how far the stub shaft sticks out of the bottom of the bushing? If the bushing rides on the bottom of the hole in the block that the distributor plugs into, the tang of the stub shaft would need to stick out of the bushing a little less than 1.948" in order to fully engage the slot in the oil pump shaft. I do not understand the .375 measurement at all. .375 longer than what??? What is the total measurement from the bottom of your bushing to the tip of your stub where it goes into the oil pump shaft slot?

me: The shaft diameter of my distributor is 0.488". I assume that the shaft diameter of your "stub" is near this measurement. The hole at the bottom of the cavity in the block that the distributor slides into is around 0.500". I don't have a way to measure that hole directly, but a 1/2" drill bit is a pretty snug fit.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm just trying to understand what is probably a pretty good idea.