Even Or Odd

Is there a no-fail way to tell an odd fire from an even? I have a 231 for sure.

 

Thanks. Its an even-fire..77 or 78.

 

well, an odd fire will run with an even fire dist in it. doesnt run well when you rev it, but it will run. i have an odd and my dad gave me 2 HEI's from an even (not knowingly). this was just after i got the jeep from him and started learning about odd's and even's. i tried em and it DID run, but not very well.
looking at the crank is the only accurate way to tell if you feel someone could have tampered with it.
i just picked up a long block from a guy here in town. he swore it was an odd fire, but couldnt get it to run right. he put an odd fire cam in it and it ran worse. turned out, he had an even fire block which he thought was an odd fire. hodge podge of parts...no wonder it wouldnt run. i took one look at it and saw it was an even and showed him the difference, but be didnt believe me.
from what i have seen, early even fire parts will fit odd fire blocks like the crank and stuff. so, you could build an odd fire block to be an even fire. now, there might be suttle differences, but not many from what i have read/seen.
pulling the pan might be a messy, time consuming thing, but you will know atleast what crank is has and what parts you need to buy to match it. just my opinion.

 

Thanks for the advice..It looks like I'm going to drop the pan...The motor casting number does not tell me much. the number is 1254083..On some listings it says 77' some 77-78. I currently have a HEI from a Chevy 250 but it will not run at TDC, But will run at 30 degrees which oddly enough is the difference between tdc on an even and a odd..As of right now I want to throw my distributor in the Fires of Mt. Doom..

 

What exactly is an integrated disrtibutor drive?