The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop HEI distributor in stock 1955 chevy v8 truck

Hi guys. I'm putting a 350 in my '55 second series using the stock motor mount locations. Can I use a standard HEI distributor with the large cap? Or will it be too tight?

Make sure the motor mounts are in excellent condition with little to no movement when the engine is under a torque load in gear. It might be necessary to do a little BFH massage to the firewall to establish enough clearance.
Jerry

So you're saying it's too tight. I'm not going to smash my firewall. I'll just order a pertonix stock appearing distributor instead.

I've heard stories that go both ways. The original V8 in the 55-59 cab used a very small-diameter distributor, and even the 1960's-70's style medium-sized "window" distributor with the Allen wrench adjustable points was a tight fit. My main concern with the big HEI unit would be contact between the cab and the cap on a hard pull due to engine torque.
Jerry

I would recommend not using the stock front strut type mounts if that's what you mean. Don't know what trans, but you may need a "truck" bell housing. I have done this several times using universal cross members for motor and tranny. Easy, cheap and you can mock it up to clear firewall/dizzy/radiator, no sweat. The 350 already has center motor mounts. Install with Carb mounting surface level. The 350 may not have provision for front/corner mount brackets. Some 55.2 3100's were possibly built with the 265 but mostly 5000 series. So if you had a 6 in your truck, the mount is in a little different place than the V8 would have been.

unless the aftermarket mounts are used as bartamos sez, the large cap HEI will definitely hit the firewall, using the universal mounts allows getting the xtra inch of clearance needed, although that requires the automatic trans mount or moving the bellhouse mount crossmember .... also if you use an automatic, you should NOT use those original style front 'bird leg' mounts, too much distance between the front and trans mounts

Bill

The 350 will have the provisions for the front mounts. All SBC engines had this provision, but the early ones didn't have the side mount provision, as you said.

As you alluded to though, the frame portion of the mounts may be different between a 6 and 8. They were in my '62 Bel Air, so I needed frame side mounts from a V8. However that was a side mount installation.

MSD makes a very high quality small cap HEI that is reasonably priced. That's what I use in my Chevy II (extremely tight firewall clearance). Very happy with MSD products.

Thanks!