440 rotor

[st ranger]

i'm coming down to the nitty-gritty's on this ramcharger build and have come up with a frustrating problem.
the distributer i have for the 440 has a 5/8 shaft,all the rotors my parts guy can come up with use a 1/2" shaft.the cap fit pefectly,so is there some magic part # that isn't in the books,or is it time to find a new parts guy?

[Elwenil]

Sounds like maybe you have a dual point distributor. There are two rotors used in most older Mopar engines. I'll use Borg Warner part numbers since that is what I have and they can be crossed over by just about any idiot. The most common is the D147 rotor. That is a small one with about a 1/2" shaft hole. The other less common one is the D182, which was mostly used on dual point distributors, but can be found in a few single point distributor. There are other rotors that Mopar used, especially in the old tach drive performance distributors, but I doubt you have one of those. Probably just need a new parts guy. This new trend to "if it ain't in the computer, you are out of luck" is disturbing to me. The books and the phone are a perts guy's best friend and a lot of these lazy MF'rs look at you like you have two heads when you ask for something they can't find in the computer. Try the second number I listed and see if it will work. It will probably look something like this Napa P/N MPEAL126SB
http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/227831.jpg

If that doesn't work get the distributor assembly number off the little aluminum tag on the side of the distributor and try to get a guy to run it through the books. Might have to get a dealer to do it, but once you get the factory part number you can get just about any idiot to cross it over.

[st ranger]

this one is an electronic dist,i'm not sure of the year of origin(it didn't actually come with the motor)but i will take the tag to the parts guy-see what he can do.
on another note,the engine fit the ramcharger perfectly,no interference issues with the valve covers or anything else.mounts lined right up,the headers are supposed to show up today so i'm hoping they will be an easy fit too.i put a d60 in the front,a 70 in the rear,will run 4.88s and 44 boggers on it.can hardly wait to fire it up.

[76dodgecrew4u]

LOL! I don't know how many time the parts guys have looked at me like I'm crazy. I run into the problem that once I say Dodge, they almost shutdown completely like they only hear chevy or ford. I had one little $h!t tell me, "it would be easier if you sold that P.O.S and bought a chevy" Needless to say he drives a isuzu.

What is the part number on the distibutor? (if you haven't got a rotor yet, maybe I can help you.) When buying parts that will interchange (318-440) like a rotor, I have found that if you tell them (parts guys at national chains ie. O'reillys, pepboys ect.) that your working on a 318 or 360 with an electronic distributor you'll prolly get the right part. Funny how part store chains and vendors think since Dodge hasn't made a 440 since 1978, now parts are obsolete, hell I still run (5) 440 powered vehicles. You'll have to post some pics when you get it all together.

[Elwenil]

You may have an aftermarket distributor of some sort. I seem to remember an old Accel distributor that we had that used a stock Mopar cap, but was a wierd rotor. Anything is possible. On the headers, it depends on what you buy. Price is usually a good indicator of quality and fit, but I had a $200 set of Mopar Performance headers on my 360 Ramcharger and they fit like crap. Rubbed the frame on both sides, and the axle came up and smashed the passenger side header. The $80 set of Hedman Hedders I bought for my 383 W100 fit perfect and I have had no trouble with them at all. Go figure.

[st ranger]

well,i took the distributer to my parts store and we went through every dodge rotor,and several chevy and ford ones.
no luck.
the # on the side of this thing is 369043 2.above and right of that is 05 5,and to the left upper of the screw is a 6.the main rotor listed for dodge v8 engines is a AL44A(niehoff #),which has a bore of .500",as do most of the ones we checked.this dist has a shaft dia of .635",seems to be a stock piece.
i can't believe a stupid $2 part is holding me up like this.

[Elwenil]

Appears you have a Mopar Performance electronic ignition distributor. Common in the Electronic Ignition Conversion Kits, and had been around since the Direct Connection days. According to my old Mopar Performance catalogs the cap and rotor set is a P4286572 which is appearently superceeded by P5007856. It should be available from your local dealer or through speed shops like Summit. Here's a link to the parts at Summit:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?sub=1&part=DCC%2D5007856&N=0&rsview=sku&Ntk=KeywordSearch&Ntt=4286572

[st ranger]

i thank you much for the numbers,but it turns out that set has the same 1/2" shaft size as the rest of them.i have my local dodge dealer scratching his head over it now.took him the whole distributer,said to call me when he finds what fits.said it appears to be a normal 440 dist,outside of the shaft diameter.
damn near ready to epoxy a hunk of brass to the shaft and just use that(jk).

oh,and it turns out my headers wont be here till tomorrow-they are the thorley 124y that was recommended in my previous thread.i really hope they fit as they are special order,non returnable(and $500 cdn)

[st ranger]

crysler p/n 3874401.

$17.09.

holy crap,guess it's something special.

[Elwenil]

That makes even less sense. That part number is for small block truck distributors from 1988-1991. I don't think the shafts are the same, so I don't think someone could have swapped a small block dist. shaft into a RB dist. housing. Perhaps it's some sort of aftermarket rebuild and they left the factory tag on. That's just weird.

[st ranger]

ok,the plot thickens....seems the chrysler # crosses back in niehoff and standard as the one i was being given before that had the smaller shaft.i guess those aftermarket manufacturers were just too lazy to realise that there are two different shaft sizes,but in this case the "one size fits all" concept didn't work too well.

it's stupid little things like this that can really cut into the profit on a job....i shouldnt have to spend 3/4 of a day looking for a rotor that will fit.i'm sort of going through the same thing with the pcv and breather grommets for the valve covers.i have them coming from dodge(more special order crap)but you would think that felpro would put them in a "complete rebuild gaket set",though that set didn't have the intake gasket/pan either.

[Elwenil]

I have no idea what is up with your distributor. That's a wierd one. As for the grommets, that has always been a problem and they have always been a dealer item unless you get a valve cover accessory kit from Mopar Performance from a speed shop like Summit. Also the reason why FelPro doesn't put the intake gaskets in the set is that the set is the same for the "B" and "RB" series engines except for the intake. Since the "RB" series is a high deck block, the heads are higher and further apart and therefore the intake must be wider. Make sure you get the good intake set that has the 4 grey-ish black paper gaskets that go on either side of the valley pan. Use yellow gasket sealant or 3M weatherstrip adhesive since it's the same thing. Use black RTV on the ends. That will seal the intake much better than just the metal piece that so many try to get away with. You can also get just the 4 side gaskets so you can reuse the valley pan later on when servicing the engine.

[st ranger]

thanks for the heads up on the intake gasket-i did the rtv on the ends,but was going to use the rest dry.

[st ranger]

for those doing a 440 swap into a ramcharger(this one is an '81)the thorley thy124 is a perfect fit.

thank god.