New project 1965 mustang

Ive been assuming this was a repower and the engine was LH or automotive rotation, do you know that is the case? The boat would have originally had a reverse rotation. Is the prop RH or LH? some of the electrical parts like starter and alternator should be marine rated to prevent fire and may be different depending on rotation of the engine..

Going off of the dist cap what is the firing order??

Have you considered using a fuse block as part of your re-wire? I used the Blue Sea brand of components. Although it was a Carlson outboard, the fuse block kept things neat and organized. Nice job by the way!

Got got to pickup a spredbore to norm bore carb adaptor because the old Rochester carb and the new one I bought are different. I'm wondering if I can slap a merkcruser intake on there for a 350

Jon,
Let me play devils advocate for for a little bit here. I just can't help but think this is a huge accident just waiting to happen....for the second time.
While everybody (myself included) is going gaga over your most excellent work in super human time frames, there's this little guy in my head telling me we're missing something here.

1) You got a burned out boat because the PO had a fire WHILE TUNING THE CARB.
2) You've done all this work to bring it back to life when the vast majority of us would have most certainly just turned it into a bar. You obviously have some knowledge, skills and can turn wrenches......Bravo and well done my friend!!!!!
3) Many like Joe assumed this would be a repower but it looks like you're planning on using the same engine after replacing a few parts ruined in the fire.
4) You've confirmed that the engine is obviously not the same one that originally came with the boat due to the fact that the engine cover has been modified so the SBC fits under it.
5) Have I mentioned that you have taken on this project because the PO had an ENGINE FIRE FROM A BACKFIRE WHILE TUNING THE CARB. That would be the exact same engine that caused the fire in the first place!!!! Also the exact same engine that you're planning on using again!!!!!!
6) You've also confirmed that the prop and engine rotation is RH like it would've been originally.


See where this going? Under the circumstances I think you need to know the answer to some questions.
Why was the PO tuning the carb in the first place? A fresh rebuild? New carb? Maybe a whole new engine??????
Did the engine ever actually run before the fire or was he just trying to start it up for the first time?
Where did this engine actually come from?
Was it truly built with the proper RH parts and the proper RH direction or was it a LH engine that the PO put the wrong rotation starter on?? Believe me when I tell you this one is far more common than you would think.
What was the original engine?

There's probably even a few more questions that I'm missing here. My fear is that the PO had no clue what he was doing with the engine swap and that ultimately was the cause of the fire. That old "cause and effect" thing if you know what I mean.

If the engine ran perfectly fine and it was a freak accident..OK. I'll gladly crawl back into into my corner with a dunce cap and my tail between my legs..
If the engine was a fresh repower and he was trying to start it for the first time, that's a huge red flag that you need to investigate before mixing fuel, compression and spark or you could very well end up with the same results as he did.

Just my .02.

backfoot100
I understand your concerns I do believe this to be a true marine engine and I think it was out of a Chris craft at some time in its life I will check the rotation of the distributor and also get back with you guys with block numbers...... I believe it was a fresh repower with 0 hours the oil is brand new in the eingine and supper clean on the nice paint parts and the hour gauge read something like 12 and the belts never even wore threw the paint on the pullies..... the couse of the backfire is most likely pre detonation caused by the timing being Advanced too far. Once I get cylinder 1 to top dead center I will check the timing I have not gotten the chance yet to do so. That's my next step.

KENO wrote: Hollywood wrote: make sure the rotor is turning counter-clockwise. It's a Chevy. The rotor is gonna turn clockwise. If it's going counter clockwise...................you have problems, like the engine is turning the wrong way and it ain;t ever gonna start

That's was my thoughts also the the distributer always spins clockwise regardless of the rotation just the wires are back words but yes the cam itself is different. Lobe wise and it should have timeing gears and not a chain so if I turn the crank righthand aka clockwise looking from the flywheel and the rotor buttens turns clockwise then it is a true right hand engine meaning crank and all

Duane in Indy wrote: Duane in Indy wrote: Going off of the dist cap what is the firing order?? You state that it has 12 hours on it. The wires should tell you what way it ran before. Obviously other more positive ways also, like pulling valve covers and checking valve openings. As far as the previous fire issue, it was said to be a carb issue which you have replaced. Not quite sure why you picked the present carb other than $$. It won't fit without an adapter. I personally would put it back together with the proper parts. I seems that now is the time to slow down a bit regroup before attempting to restart the engine. There just appears to be too many unanswered questions. Take your time and do it safely and right.

The plug wires are in Reverse rotation I check that all yesterday. I went with a Quadrajet because I have had very little problems in the past with them and have a good bit of experience with them as well. The adapter is already on its way. And the Rochester that was on there is upwards of $400 to replace.

I was hesitant to post that, but glad it got the smart guys posting anyway...

While on the subject, is this correct?

LH Ford has a "normal" cut cam gear, resulting in CCW rotor
RH Ford has a reverse cut dist/cam gear, resulting in CCW rotor

LH Chevy has a timing chain, resulting in normal rotation cam and CW rotor
RH Chevy has gear driven distributor, resulting in normal rotation cam and CW rotor
^there is only 1 cam/dist gear for Chevies

Hollywood wrote: I was hesitant to post that, but glad it got the smart guys posting anyway... While on the subject, is this correct? LH Ford has a "normal" cut cam gear, resulting in CCW rotor RH Ford has a reverse cut dist/cam gear, resulting in CCW rotor LH Chevy has a timing chain, resulting in normal rotation cam and CW rotor RH Chevy has gear driven distributor, resulting in normal rotation cam and CW rotor ^there is only 1 cam/dist gear for Chevies

Good up to the last line, Not sure what you mean by "there is only 1 cam/dist gear for Chevies"

I think you want it to say "just for clarity" that.................RH Chevy has gear driven cam, resulting in normal rotation of the cam and CW rotor but the cam is cut differently for the reverse rotation firing order.

There are some RR Chevy's out there with reverse (CCW) rotation distributors but typically not on an engine you'd be talking about on this site.

I think Air 206 has some experience with ordering one of those distributors from DUI, not necessarily a good experience, since he had to return it to get one with the right gear.

yup.

Yes, the cam itself is different because of the firing order but the distributor [including gear] is the same for either rotation engine. Thanks for clarifying all that.

A friend of mine saved a customer some money by buying a new LH crate engine and changed the rotation himself. I think all he did was reverse the pistons and rods, and the firing order. I don't think he had to even change the cam shaft. There must be different methods to the SBC as they're so versatile.

So all and all if my rotor button spins clockwise while the flywheel spins clockwise then it is a true right hand rotation as for if it's the right cam I will need to check the valves for the right fireing order which is no problem because I have the exhaust and valve covers off now. I will start with cylinder one at top dead center then the next to move will be cylinder 2 then 7 then 5 and so on

Bilkolayne wrote: So all and all if my rotor button spins clockwise while the flywheel spins clockwise then it is a true right hand rotation as for if it's the right cam I will need to check the valves for the right fireing order which is no problem because I have the exhaust and valve covers off now. I will start with cylinder one at top dead center then the next to move will be cylinder 2 then 7 then 5 and so on

I don't think it is possible for the wrong rotation cam to spin the distributor clockwise. You should be good.