Reverse Rotation V6 or at least the distributor seems to

One of the Prestolite distributors spins backwards from the other three offered. not sure how to adentify, but they are out there. i currently have one in my jeep, cost 300 used back in 85 when dad had to find a new one. Not sure what makes them spin backwards, whether it is the cam gear/dist gear, or what, but there were a few that made it into 225 engines

 

Re: Delco vs. Prestolite

I am not sure what he is describing, but I have seen these Buick motors used in marine outdrive applications from the 1960s. A twin outdrive setup may have used a reverse rotation engine that was the source of the distributor in question. bg

 

Re: Delco vs. Prestolite

Only issue I see here is the whole motor was counter-rotating which means if used in a standard early CJ with a 3 speed, you'd have 3 speeds in reverse and one forward speed (reverse gear in the trans) as the motor actually ran backwards. In marine applications these were used to counter the torque of a standard rotating motor. Think of a V-drive prop powered boat with a single engine and how the hull twisted in the water and "crabbed" while driving through the water. The counter-rotating motors were designed to help cancel this out. Have run into Chev 4.3 V-6 and 5.0 and 5.7l V-8's built this way as well.

To answer the question of a reverse distributor other wise, well, I can't.

There should be no issue physically of changing a Prestolite to a Delco distributor. The ignition wires should swap over no issue. I'm not sure about the need for a ballast resistor, that would be determined by the coil you currently have.

 

Re: Delco vs. Prestolite

Wouldn't the vacuum advance have to be connected to the opposite side of the breaker plate? Otherwise it would go to retard on a reverse direction dist?

 

The informaton i provided about the reverse distrubutor was information my father told me when i aquired the jeep from his uncle. When my dad was in need of a new distributor back in the mid 80's , he wasn't able to get a replacement because the distrubutor worked backwards from the other ones used by jeep. He was given a delco disrtibutor by the parts guy, along with the other ones avalible, but they weren't the same, so he didn't try it. (they threw out his old one, so he was forced to find a used one instead of driving it as is)He was able to aquire a used one out of an ad in the back of Outdoor Life magazine, and the guy told him it was one of the lesser used distributors. he also mentioned that it worked backwards from the other ones used. as far as i know, it is the original engine to the jeep, but our family aren't the original owners, my grand father aquired it use in the late 70's from the original owner, so it is possible that the engine had been swapped.
I have a Delco distributor out of a 225 from a commando, so when i get to re gasketing the motor, i will pull the distributor and take pics side by sid and try to figure out what the difference is.

 

Not sure of the reason to reverse the dist rotation. But if it did and the wires were put on in the firing order it wouldn't matter. I guess what I trying to say it is just a fancy switch. Now as far as marine applications a reverse rotation engine wouldn't quite work in a Jeep requiring standard rotation. You would have three reverse gears and one fwd. I would be interested in seeing the distributor though, sounds different.

 

A picture of the distributor gear will tell you if its a reverse rotation or not. There's nothing else needed to tell this.

 

The counter rotating Marine engine crank runs backwards. The cam still rotates in the same direction, because of the use of a cam gear instead of a timing chain. The firing order is also different. I don't think there is any difference in the distributors. IIRC.

 

I don't think it does on the 225, I have an old OMC book that has the 225 in it and the service manual shows a chain not a gear setup.

 

Well tells you how much I know.

 

I'm interested to find out. i'll pull the distributor tomorrow after work and find out. who knows, it could have been a story told to justify the price.

 

Well, i pulled the Prestolite distributor and slid in a Delco without any problems. Asked Dad about it again and he claims the guy said it worked backwards of the other three. He figures it was the oddest of the ones offered, and didn't think to try any other ones to see if would run.
Sorry for the misinformation, and any greif it may have caused.
Matthew Haver

 

:iagree:

Don't sweat it. When you get info from other people's memory's, you never know what is really accurate. Not to say your Dad's memory wasn't good, but you never know if what he was told was accurate. Run into that almost daily.