my question to you fine people is, Will the distributor from a (aprox 78 ) 307 work in my 69 350 and what else do i have to change or do for this to work !

thanks Troy.

P.s. you guys are a great Help !

 

First, Olds didn't start building 307s until 1981. More importantly, however, all 307s use a computer controlled distributor. This WILL NOT work on a non-computer car, since the computer controls the advance curve. If the HEI does not have a vac advance canister, you can't use it.

 

i went to my local auto parts store and just got them to give me the first distributor with hei on a cutlass which was like 77 or 76 i think but also it was for a 350 but arent small block parts for the most part interchangeable ? not sure just wondering

 

I can't say for the 350 but I know the '74 455 HEI goes right in a '69 455 and works great. I had on of those conversions from points to HEI in it but the distributer ran to hot for the wires and poof small fire (I was lucky it didn't even burn long enough to hurt anything other than my plug wires).

 

OK, just for completeness, The HEI was first released by GM in 1973. Any 73-80 Olds HEI with a vac advance canister will bolt into an earlier engine. All big and small blocks use the same distributor body. You will likely want to change the mechanical advance curve and possibly the vac advance unit to an adjustable one. Clearance to a stock air cleaner housing may be a problem, particularly on a small block. The Edelbrock O4B intake will not clear the HEI body. You cannot use the 81-up computer-controlled HEI (without the vac canister, as seen on the 307) unless you use a computer.

 

whats an edelbrock O4B intake?

 

"Olds didn't start building 307s until 1981"

Actually, the 307 was available for the 1980 model year (my first car was a 1980 Delta 88 with a 307) and production ended in 1990.

 

O4B is an early big block Edelbrock intake. I've been told the O4B stands for "Olds 4 Barrel". They were made back in the 1970's, not sure just when they started and stopped production. I've been told they are one of the few aftermarket intakes that will fit with a 1970-72 ram air hood/air cleaner but they don't flow nearly as well as the newer intakes such as the performer. They do look nicer than the factory cast iron and reduce the weight as the cast iron one weighs a lot! Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, just trying to answer shak's question. John