where is the distributor located on a 383 chrysler.?

Question

did any 383's have the distributor located in the rear of the motor?

i was told that all small blocks had the distributor in the back whereas the 383, 440 had it in the front. the hemi was easy to spot because of the heads. im looking at a motor that looks small but they say its a 383 w/o # is there an easy way to tell?

Answer 1

As others have posted the distributors on "all" big blocks including the 383 are at the front angled including the hemi. They are wrong about that motor being a 383 if the distributor is in the back. You didn't mention though what year or car this was as there is also the "old" version of the 318 which is a "wide block" engine (as opposed to big block) and it too has the distributor at the back like later models, but is much wider across the top. Somebody who doesn't know might confuse it for a big block. These were used in any Chrysler product 64 or older and maybe a few 65's if they had 318's. Now there "is" a 383 that has a distributor at the back of the block, but it is not Chrysler. Is is the high performance engine that went into the 57-58 Mercury Turnpike cruiser. Is actually a "Wedgehead" engine similar in design to the Chrysler big block, but is a Ford engine. To sum this up though no way that is a 383 "Chrysler engine you are looking at. One other trivia on this is that Chrysler also made a 350 wedge head "big block" engine. Only year was 58 and I had one in a 58 Desoto Firesweep. Externally identical to a 383 but the pistons were smaller. As others have suggested though the engine id is easily read off the block numbers at the front. :-)

Answer 2

The above response is wrong. The big blocks all have the distributor pointing towards the passenger side of the car at the front, the 383 included. The hemi's all had the distributors at the back of the engine with the exception of the 426 being in the front.

If the distributor is in the back of the engine the motor is definatley a small block (360 or smaller). There should be some casting numbers on the block that indicate the size.

Answer 3

Chrysler 350, 361,383,400,413,426W, 440. distributor in the front. If you want to know what size the engine is, on the opposite side front is a flat spot on the block. Scrub all the dirt and grease off and there is the size of the engine along with other numbers.

Answer 4

383 always has distributor in the front of the intake manifold. With the cap facing the passenger side of the engine.

Answer 5

The distributor is located in only two spot on Chrysler V-8s. Rear center. Only the HEMI had the distributor angled towards the pasenger side at the front.