Technical Why did Chevy put the Distributor through the Intake Manifold?

Thought about that too, especially when I needed to pull an intake on a Buick Nailhead. No distributor to mess with, very little coolant issues to deal with.

 

The SBF was designed to fit in the narrow Falcon and Fairlane chassis that was originally equipped with a long inline six.

A design engineer who spent any resources figuring how to package the then new SBF in a twenty year old (at the time ) 40 Ford would have likely been demoted to the dipstick design department.

Isn’t the 95 / up short water pump in the Mustang and Explorer quite a bit shorter?

 

Only in a gasser...

 

Hi. I must have a real freak as my dizzy comes out the passenger side of the block just above the oil pan. Not in the way of anything. Guess you just got the wrong style Chevrolet engine if dizzy location is a big problem. LOL.
Jimmie.

 

HAH! So true.

Think it has more to do with, one more step/component that has to be messed with during, what should be, a simple intake change. And lots of folks hate messing with distributors. 'Voodoo' and all that.

64-90 Oldsmobile engines seem pretty forgiving even with that massive intake and HEI.

Heh, ah yes, the leaky distributor destroyer. $500 later in parts you are back on the road.

94/95 Mustang used a revised reverse rotation WP and timing cover to reduce weight and improve flow.
No room was needed for the fuel pump eccentric so the cover allows the pump to be in a recess that makes it appear shorter. But since both pump and cover need to be used together it's not interchangeable with mechanical fuel pumps.

 

They put it there so you can shout to your buddy "I TOLD YOU IT WOULD HIT THE FIREWALL!" when your'e dropping in a new mill.
In a hot rod where you have reasonable access either side, it's not too bad to get to, but when installed on an early 60's -late 50's land yacht, and you have to climb onto the engine to change or adjust the points, drop the screws which hold the rotor button on down over the trans, with a flashlight and your head wedged under the hood, then you think "where is the engineer who put this here- I wanna kick his arse!)

 

People forget that a SBC bare block is almost the same length as a bare 392 Hemi block. Chevy kept all of the accesory drives compact so the overall package was smaller. MOPAR had the best setup, you can pull the intake manifold without even draining the coolant or moving the distributor.

 

It's a test.....if you can't handle a distributor you should not remove the intake. Sorry LMAO.

 

Shortened answer is because Chevrolet was CHEAP. By using the intake also as a valley cover you eliminated one additional part and a gasket. Everything I have read on the original engineering of the small block revolved around cost. Individual studs and rocker arm balls were less costly than a shaft. Block depth is only 1/8 of inch below the crank centerline ( think of all the deep skirted blocks of their competitors ) because of the savings of cast iron. The original 265 didn't even come with a oil filter.

 

Same with a 351 Cleveland. Intake runs dry.

 

KISS system during assembly. Fewer part's and fastener's.

 

Is that a Caddy Northstar with the starter hidden under the intake manifold? Remind me to never buy one of those. Makes me think of an old mechanic I knew who turned wrenches into his 90s. Arthur said that engineers need to stick to running trains and let mechanics design automobiles. The engineers did get it right on small block Chevy starters--I can change out a small block Chevy starter in 15 minutes. Whoever came up with the idea of putting the starter under the intake should be shot at sunrise.

 

I could tell you the story of lifting a 351C equipped Cougar, with a forklift, via the distributor, and still not have it come out (even after hanging it there for 24-hours, soaking in penetrating oil).

 

Oh go ahead we got nothing interesting going on here anyway!

 

Chevrolet was so cheap they used the same design forever. funny how that works.

By using the intake also as a valley cover you eliminated a leak

the oil filter was an option on all the preceding 6's. having the oil filter being a option in 1955 would not be that surprising. Chevrolet was the "Low Priced" line.

 

How come the y block, hemi, and A, LA mopar guys . Nailhead buick , olds, pontiac, studebaker etc guys never complain. Kinda like us Chevy Guys, we got used to the distributor location.. Never had a chevy distributor get stuck in the block, or drop a oil pump driveshaft into the pan.

 

It was pretty much that. Nothing worked.

Chain wrench broke the housing.
Propane torch did nothing.
Blue tipped wrench just started an oil fire.
Putting it on the forklift for 24-hours with penetrating oil did nothing.
Bouncing it on the forklift snapped the remainder of the head off.
I had to pull the engine, drop the pan, pull the front cover, and everything else. Then, I had to use a hole saw without the pilot bit, to to free the majority from the block. What was left behind was still so stuck that I had to use full strength muriatic acid to dissolve it.

It was not even in for a distributor replacement. It came in for tuneup. Cannot set the timing when the distributor is chemically welded into the block.

I have never had that happen with a Chevy, not even with an Iron manifold.

For the uninitiated, the 351C (and 400M) has a perfectly formed well to collect any moisture from rain, weeping from the thermostat housing, or whatever.

 

Force Only Removes Distributor
F O R D

 

So you could cut a hole in the firewall and adjust the timing while driving.

 

A couple of thoughts from "How To Hot Rod Small Block Chevys"





The short version is that simple castings that require fewer cores reduce stacking tolerances, cost less, weigh less, and machine and assemble faster.

Also, if you think 2" matter in a '40, try a '35. My angled radiator gives me about 1/2" of clearance on my short pump 283.


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Bingo!

 

Then you've never tore apart one that ran non detergent oil and never had an oil change during it's whole life.

 

Well there's your problem, went about it all wrong. When the timing goes out on these kind of engines, you don't touch the distributor. Replace the timing chain set, would have saved you a headache

 

One advantage of a front distributor is it can help reduce spark scatter. Generally not an issue on street motors, nevertheless that's one reason front mounts became pretty much standard. Camshafts can twist torsionally, particularly with big cams/springs. I know at one time you could buy a kit to front drive the distributor on a BBC as they could see up to 3 degrees 'movement' in individual cylinder timing as the cam twisted then unloaded. Of course, most all-out race motors (as well as most late-model offerings) these days uses some form of crank trigger and may not even have a distributor even if originally equipped.

 

i had one in a low mileage, short trip, '75 monte that had so much sludge build up, the distributor was a bear to get out. it would spin but it wouldn't lift out of the bore. i took the valve covers off because they were leaking, you could barely tell there were rockers, do to the sludge build up. car ran fine.

 

I always said if you made an engineer work on a car in Alaska in the winter time in his underwear he would design all cars to be quick and easy to fix.

 

Why did Chevy put the Distributor through the Intake Manifold?

For the same reason brown cows eat green grass, give white milk that makes yellow butter... I don't know.

 

Already got one! LOL!

 

Exactly, small block chevy only has 5 iron castimgs .

 

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