[jocko]

i'm a little confused (nothing new) - since it is a crate motor, is it perhaps an HEI?
I'm assuming not since you are restoring, so if not, then I believe what glendale mentions is best approach - remove rear mounts and tilt rear of engine/trans up to lean the distrib/eng combo forward a bit. If it's an HEI, not sure if that will be enough clearance, but if it's a stock points-type or at least points size cap, then you that should give you enough room. Be carefull when you move everything back (i.e. after the distrib is back in) to not tilt the engine too far back in the original direction or you can crack the distrib (or worse yet the manifild) by smacking the rearward facing portion of the distrib cap on the firewall. Cap would probably crack first, but either way it ruins one's day...