Will HEI work with front mounts-SMALL BLOCK 55

[Hafrod]

Stock front mounts on 350 going in 55. Will HEI fit?

[PaPa Mike]

I think there are clearance issues between the dist. and the firewall, some of the other guys can probably give you more insight, but you may need to use engine sidemounts and trans. crossmember and move forward 3/4 inch. I have seen sledge hammer used on firewall to make room. Not my first choice.

[chevman57]

It will depend. I`ve seen some use them with no problem and others don`t have enough room, so each car varies by the body mounts evidently. With tolerances some may be bolted a little more forward and others may be bolted a little mor towards the back. So the only way to tell would be to try it, and the ones that have fit had about 1/4 inch between the dist. and firewall.
Terry

[BELLA57]

Yes, it seems to work, at least on my 57. I have a '57 hardtop, with a 350 and old style (large cap) HEI. It was all in when I bought the car. The car had front mounts, and it all fit. The HEI was very close to the firewall, I'd say between 1/4" and 3/8" at the widest part of the cap. I've never had to try and remove the distributer, but the distributer can be rotated. I have since switched to side mounts, but left the engine exactly where it had been with the front mounts. I don't think any mods were made to my firewall. From inside the car, it look all original. Oddly, my firewall has a skin across it to make it smooth, so that probalby cuts my clearance even more than you. John

[byrdman]

It will work on some and will not work on others. It wouldn't fit my 57 back when I had stock mounts. If you install HEI and clearance is super tight at the firewall, make sure the motor doesn't rock too much when you romp it. If regular HEI won't fit, there are small body HEI and in-cap conversions to make a points distributor electronic.

[Dan57]

Mine seems to fit ok on my '57 with HEI and side mounts. Wish it didn't fit in a way, then i'd have an excuse to update that ugly thing, hehe

[Twin Blown 57]

I have an HEI in my 57 that I could turn but not pull out so I built some custom side motor mounts and trans crossmember that moved my engine forward 3/4 inch to clear the firewall, I also raised the engine for other reasons to clear the steering linkage and allow for an extremely low front end without dragging the 7 quart Moroso oil pan.
If you move the engine forward though you may have to go with a 6 cyl radiator that mounts in front of the core support, I think it's a better radiator anyways.
Hope I helped more that hurt,

Sincerely,
Dave Twin Blown 57

[55fazzi]

I have the 3/4" foreward Earl Williams side mounts. GM full size HEI dist. on an '84 350 . It clears.....but not by much! My guess is if the front mounts retain the original motor location....the full size HEI will NOT fit.

Tom

[fiftee6]

I would not. I had it on my 283. While it does seem you can slip a credit card in the back, the 90 degree plug boots on the back two terminals do hit under torque. I have changed timing from rubbing, I even lightly greased the firewall. This was one of the reasons for my recent pulling of the motor. Maybe with brand new fresh rubber mounts or urethane you would be ok, but I would not. Phil...

[41willys]

I've got a '55 210 sedan with a '77-79 (casting date on block) 350 CI Chevy engine and a HEI distributor. My car is experiencing performance problems in that the engine will start but seems like it's not hitting on all 8 cylinders. The HEI is pressed extremely tight against the firewall and I think the distributor cap is out-of-round. Plans are to install a MSD ignition system - small body distributor and side engine mounts that move the engine forward 3/4". Funny thing is the car ran fine up until about 5 months ago then I started having the problem with the engine not running as it should.