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Distributor Not Fitting & Alternator Wiring

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K5Pappi

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Bonney Lake, WA
Hi gang, the weather looking nice lately so I'm back at my 400 SBC install w/ a Sniper Efi and I've run into a snag. I bought a Holley Sniper kit from Speedway Motors (#9100797) and I've found that the distributor doesn't fit into the oil pump. The gears match up but the slot of the distributor appears larger than the oil pump drop-in. Is there a way to swap out the end of the distributor for a smaller slot?

Dist. Tip
Oil Pump

Second, I swapped out my alternator for a newer, higher amp one and the plugs are different. Do I swap out the plug for a matching or is there more to it?

New Alt
Olt Alt
Plug
 
It can be a pita to line the oil pump drive rod slot with the distributor tab.
I eyeball the tab, with the rotor pointed where I want it tend up, then turn to driven rod with a long flat screw driver, to match.
The distributor shaft rotates as you drop it in, so start the rotor a bit counter clockwise from your desired end position.
Yes you can repin a connector with your current wiring for the alt
 
Those 2 alternators are NOT interchangeable. Old one is internally regulated, and the new one is externally regulated! Get the right one!
 
And when installing a higher amp alt. make sure you upgrade the charging wire to the correct gauge so bad things don’t happen, in case you didn’t know.
 
Wes Harden said:
It can be a pita to line the oil pump drive rod slot with the distributor tab.
I eyeball the tab, with the rotor pointed where I want it tend up, then turn to driven rod with a long flat screw driver, to match.
The distributor shaft rotates as you drop it in, so start the rotor a bit counter clockwise from your desired end position.
Yes you can repin a connector with your current wiring for the alt
Click to expand...
Hey Wes, looking down the hole it appears that the oil pump slot is smaller than the distributor wedge. I tried putting a long flathead down there to rotate it to match TDC on the dizzy but I had no luck. If you look at the photos in the link it appears to be very small down in there or my eyes are playing tricks on me.
 
I did look at photo, to hard to tell, do you still have the dist that was in the engine before ? I am assuming it had one, I would compare the old with the new.
If this engine has never run then maybe that driven rod is bad
 
Wes Harden said:
I did look at photo, to hard to tell, do you still have the dist that was in the engine before ? I am assuming it had one, I would compare the old with the new.
If this engine has never run then maybe that driven rod is bad
Click to expand...
It's a rebuilt I picked up from a reputable mechanic in town, so no old distributor to go off of. It has a Melling M55 oil pump. In the past I turned the motor with a wrench on the main crank pulley until the distributor drops. I'll give that a try again and see if I have any luck.
 
This can work, you need to double check after the dist drops that you are at TDC compression stroke with the rotor.

Since this is an unproven motor then the driven rod may wrong or incorrectly mfr'd going to go take a picture of a good one for you hopefully can compare.
 
K5Pappi said:
Hi gang, the weather looking nice lately so I'm back at my 400 SBC install w/ a Sniper Efi and I've run into a snag. I bought a Holley Sniper kit from Speedway Motors (#9100797) and I've found that the distributor doesn't fit into the oil pump. The gears match up but the slot of the distributor appears larger than the oil pump drop-in. Is there a way to swap out the end of the distributor for a smaller slot?

Dist. Tip
Oil Pump

Second, I swapped out my alternator for a newer, higher amp one and the plugs are different. Do I swap out the plug for a matching or is there more to it?

New Alt
Olt Alt
Plug
Click to expand...
Need a better picture of the oil pump
 
Something you could do is drive the roll pin out and remove the gear from the end of the distributor. Not only does that remove interference from the camshaft, but also separates whether it's the diameter or the slot width that's limiting you. If it's the slot, you have the option at that point to grind it narrower or swap the shaft (or whole distributor) out. You could also pin the gear to something else, like some tubing, to verify if the diameter is compatible.

The harder way is to drop the pan and pull the pump and shaft out to look at the fit on the bench. The upside is now you can swap anything and confirm a match before reassembly.

The 400ci engine uses a different oil pump drive shaft, but AFAIK, the interface with the distributor is the same.
 
I didn't know a sbc 400 had a different oil pump drive. I am going to have look into those differences.
An original Chevy II V8 has @1/2" shorter drive then a normal front sump sbc

Been wondering if the iron flat tappet cam dist gear and the roller cam bronze? Gear are different. Anyone know?
 
Wes Harden said:
I didn't know a sbc 400 had a different oil pump drive. I am going to have look into those differences.
An original Chevy II V8 has @1/2" shorter drive then a normal front sump sbc

Been wondering if the iron flat tappet cam dist gear and the roller cam bronze? Gear are different. Anyone know?
Click to expand...
Oil drive is the same between the different metals
 
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