Ok, just making sure i don't break anything. I got the distributer out and want to take the timing chain cover off do i need to take the oil filter lead off/fuel pump off as well or can i take the whole thing off as one. oh and before i forget one more question, are the gears off an old points style big block distributer interchangable with a buick 350 hei distributer. thanks for any help.
I'd definitely remove the fuel pump. The oil pump can stay on, but I remove the filter at least for convenience's sake.\ The distributor gears for a big block and small block are not the same, doesn't matter if it's HEI or not, there's a different number of teeth so the pitch is wrong, is my understanding, but I do know they are not the same part and have a different number of teeth. ~edit- what do you mean by "oil filter lead"?
I knew they were different gears but i thought that you could just change the gears and reuse the rest of the distibuter.
I think you can, but the distributor curve is all wrong between the two engines. It will not run like it should. They are not the same distributor with different gear teeth although they look visually the same. I imagine you have 350 HEi and want to swap it in. I wouldn't recommend it unless you prep the HEI to work with a big block. I don't know if I got the edit in, but I'm curious as to what you mean by "oil filter lead".
69 Special(post your name) The Points gear and the HEI gear are the same except for the size of the roll pin holding it on to the shaft. You can use a points gear on a HEI shaft, but you must drill the hole in the gear larger, and use the roll pin from the HEI gear. The BBB has a 13 tooth gear, the SBB has a 14 tooth gear.
I recently replaced my timing chain and gear. It was pretty simple, I drained the anti-freeze, removed the belts, the fan, radiator and hoses. The fuel pump needs to come off but not the oil filter unless you just want to remove it. If you leave it on with oil in it you won't necessarily need to pack the oil pump full of petroleum jelly to prime it. You will understand when you get it off. Be careful if you try to pry the cover off because you could break it. A trick that I have used in the past is to take a untility knive and carefully go around the perimeter to loosen the old gasket before trying to remove it. Don't gouge into the block or the cover. I agree that the distributor is wrong, as was said, the gear has to be changed and it will probably need to be recurved. That part may not be as simple as it may seem. David Ray points out some of the difficulties associated with this. Do a search in this forum for Ignitionman for more information. Make sure that you get as much of the anit-freeze out as possible before removing the cover or it will 'puke' into the oil pan and you will definately need to change the oil. I too am curious what you are referring to when you mention the "oil filter lead". Good luck with your project. Make sure that you cut the old oil pan gasket off flush with the block and replace it or you will have a nice oil leak. Check the front main seal and replace as necessary. The fun part is going to be getting the harmonic balancer off and back on properly. There are a couple of tricks here too but be careful, the torque spec is greater than 200 ft./lbs. :grin:
