Big block 366 HEI?

[txriverrat]

Hey guys, I have a 72 c50 with the 366 big block industrial motor. Is there an HEI distributor available for this? It doesn't have a keyway driven oil pump, I guess it's a square drive. I haven't been able to find much info about this at all, please help!

[packers05]

Have you removed the old one? I installed a summit hei in a c-70 3yrs ago and have had no issues it was a 366 as well

[txriverrat]

I have removed the old points dist. and tried to install the hei. It would not drop in the last inch. Was the dist. you put in a keyway drive or a square? When you ordered the HEI from summit did you have to specify that it was for a 366?

[2tons of fun]

tdbbc, bbc and sbc all use the same dist.

you probably didnt line the oil pump drive correctly.

[100%Chevy]

The tall decks use a different distributor than the "regular" big blocks!
I have a 427 TD that came with HEI.But,it doesn't have a vacuum advance on it.And no place to put one.
I haven't pulled it so I don't know what drive it has.
BTW,tall deck distributors are longer than the regular big blocks.
Mike.

[txriverrat]

Both distributors that I have (HEI and points) measure the same length. Think I could just swap the gears on the bottom of the distributors?

[Dieselwrencher]

As far as I know the distributors are the same. I have taken HEI's out of 350's and put them in 366 and 427 tall decks with out any problems several times. If you look at a tall deck intake manifold the area where the distributor installs is lower than the plane of the intake.

[cparman]

I am going to assume that if the dizzy did not drop the last little bit that you did not have the oil pump aligned properly. As far as I know all of them are the same. I just did a points to HEI swap in a big block, in an old Caddy. I asked the parts store for a Dizzy from a 76 c-20 and it dropped right in. AFTER I aligned the oil pump drive.

[txriverrat]

Ok, I believe the problem is the distributor gear then? The bottom of the gear on the HEI has a keyway, the old points distributor doesn't. I've installed distributors before, it's not just the oil pump alignment that's not allowing it to drop completely. can I swap the gears?

[cparman]

before you swap gears, I would get the points dizzy, and the HEI dizzy and look carefully to see that the gears are the same size, and that they are installed on the dizzy shaft correctly. I have seen a couple of dizzy's the the shaft to gear alignment were not the same. Meaning that you might have to turn the dizzy to get it to sit back into the motor correctly. I do not want to be a butt, but I think you need to get #1 up on TDC, get the oil pump drive set and then set your HEI dizzy in. IT SHOULD GO IN NO PROBLEM

[txriverrat]

I've done distributors before, its at tdc #1 and the oil pump shaft alignment isn't the issue this time. Tomorrow I'm going to try swapping the distributor gears and see if that does it.

[2tons of fun]

Originally Posted by 100%Chevy

The tall decks use a different distributor than the "regular" big blocks!
I have a 427 TD that came with HEI.But,it doesn't have a vacuum advance on it.And no place to put one.
I haven't pulled it so I don't know what drive it has.
BTW,tall deck distributors are longer than the regular big blocks.
Mike.

no they dont, the seat for the tdc intake sits lower than it does on a bbc intake so that the same dist can be used on all motors.





* if you were to use a regular bbc intake and adapters on a tdc block then you would have to use a longer or adjustable dist, because the seat is not lowerd correctly for the intake to block. like if you were useing a td block 427 to build a race motor.

[2tons of fun]

Originally Posted by txriverrat

Ok, I believe the problem is the distributor gear then? The bottom of the gear on the HEI has a keyway, the old points distributor doesn't. I've installed distributors before, it's not just the oil pump alignment that's not allowing it to drop completely. can I swap the gears?

the key/driver blade is the same on all sbc/bbc/points/hei dists.

getting the blade and the gears to line can be a major chore but use a long flat blade screw driver with a reference mark on top to minutely turn the oil pump.

[highperf4x4]

Alot of the 366's had a square top oil pump drive rod. You have 2 options. The easiest option is to swap your gears. The other is to drop the pan, pull the oil pump and change to a slot driven rod. I would prefer to swap the rods so that I could swap the dizzy with another one without doing the gear swap again and I'd prefer a new gear rather than to keep using the old one.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 2tons of fun

the key/driver blade is the same on all sbc/bbc/points/hei dists.

getting the blade and the gears to line can be a major chore but use a long flat blade screw driver with a reference mark on top to minutely turn the oil pump.

I have never understood the concept of this being a "Problem"....Once the distributor is in-place far enough to enguage the drive gear all you have to do is turn the engine over until it drops over the oil pump shaft. There is nothing difficult about it at all, this "turning the oil pump with a screwdriver" stuff is hit or miss at best, and more work that still may not result in success.

[bhoeger70]

If the oil pump is a square drive it wouldnt do any good to change the gear, the shaft drives the pump. You would need to find a square drive hei shaft. I am thinking good luck on that one.

[OhOneWS6]

Found this.

"A couple years ago I changed my C60 Chevy with 366 engine over from points type distributor to a new HEI. All I had to do was swap the bottom gear out and it works. It's held on with a roll pin. Hope this helps. Jim"

Taken from here. 4th post down.
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/arc.../t-123033.html

[2tons of fun]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

I have never understood the concept of this being a "Problem"....Once the distributor is in-place far enough to enguage the drive gear all you have to do is turn the engine over until it drops over the oil pump shaft. There is nothing difficult about it at all, this "turning the oil pump with a screwdriver" stuff is hit or miss at best, and more work that still may not result in success.

i will spend 10min installing it like i said its not not that hard.

i dont like use the motor to do it because i am afraid that it will jump a tooth or not fall on the pump.

i dont have to get in and out of the bay repeatedly to crank the truck, them find tdc again, and hope its right. if its not i can just lift it up out and give a little turn with the driver and put it right back in.

[OhOneWS6]

Hey TxRR, Can you post a pic of that gear with the square drive? I'd like to see what the gear looks like.

[2tons of fun]

x2
all the bbc tdbbc and sbc i have had were sloted.

[txriverrat]

Yes I will post a pic of each today when I get home from work.

[highperf4x4]

I still think you should drop the pump and change the drive rod. You could install a new oil pump while you were at it.

[Dieselwrencher]

If it is just an easy gear swap, I would just swap the gear. Which is faster? Pull engine to pull pan or swap a gear on a shaft? If the dizzy fails, you just have to do it again. No big deal unless the gear is worn, then swapping oil pumps is your best bet.

[txriverrat]

Ok guys here's a picture with the original square drive points dizzy on the left and the new keyway drive HEI dizzy on the right.

Thanks for all the quick replies! I'm going to go ahead and try swapping the gears tonight, and we'll see how it goes.

[bhoeger70]

Now the blade on shaft of the hei drives the oil pump. Does the gear drive the pump on the 366 dist? If it does is the shaft the same legnth, and does it look the same after taking off the gears? I will say I have not seen that on a chevy dist before. I am thinking that changing the gears wont help but I could be wrong.