Thanks Ted! I figured out the issue I was running into! As you describe, "SBF distributor" simply isn't specific enough, there are atleast 5 different version of shaft/gear/housing that I found this morning. I found the numbers on my Hyper Spark distributor and it's a 351w Roller cam variant with too large of a housing and 5/16" hex drive. I did score a hex drive FYB distributor this morning though! Back to drawing board to figure out the easiest way to get it fit!

The length of the shaft residing below the distributor gear is typically in the 1.000” range.  The hex hole in the bottom of the distributor shaft must be deep enough to prevent the ¼” hex oil pump drive shaft from bottoming out when the distributor is fully seated in the block.

The distributor holes in the production 1954-1967 FYB 239/256/272/292/312 blocks are all the same.  The diameter of the FYB distributor holes is ~1.500” which is also the same as all years 289/302 small block Ford engines.  Do not confuse the 351W distributors for the 289/302 engines as the 351W distributors are larger in diameter where they fit into the block.  There are some other major differences with the 351W distributors but that’s best saved for another conversation.

The depth of the distributor holes in the blocks is different between the FYB and SBF.  Those depths are measured at the point on the block where the distributor rests and to the pad in the block where the gear rests.  The FYB engines are ~5.0” to the distributor gear pad in the block while the measurement for the 289/302 engines is ~4.0”.  While the 289/302 distributor housings can be used in the FYB engines, the SBF shafts are too short and the gears are different.  Both use the ¼” oil pump drive though.

It’s extremely important that the distributor gear location on the shaft corresponds to the depth of the hole in the block.  If the distributor gear is too low on the shaft, then binding at the gear takes place and the distributor gear and cam gear wears out in a short period of time.  There is some leeway in the gear being too high but not much.  Under no circumstance should a gasket be used at the block under the distributor housing.  Using the OEM ‘O’ ring that’s on the SBF distributor housing on a Y-Block engine is not necessary but not a show stopper if being used anyhow.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

That is true about the gear location and was my original plan. I can do a video and maybe post it here somehow and explain why I'm not doing it that way on this one. If you are using all Ford housings, moving the gear on the shaft is the way to do it. This Holley Distributor housing is much taller so instead of moving the gear on the shaft deeper into the engine, I'm going to re machine it to slide the entire distributor into the engine. Very common process in aftermarket builds with slip collar distributors. The only additional challenge I've found is the block hole size Y vs SBF. I have a SBF on the stand now I'll measure today and see what's up.

Still need that measurement for shaft protrusion through the gear if anyone has it.

I do still need the measurement of the distributor shaft past the bottom of the gear if anyone has a distributor laying around!

Honestly I thought Roadkill was a documentary on a branch of our family haha.

I totally agree that doing an EFI swap comes with challenges, adding a turbo comes with challenges, driving a 58 F600 from Oregon to Tennessee Comes with challenges. But pussies will never be heros! Haha

My wife and I have swapped cranks over night in a parking lot. I guess we love work and hate sleep and money.

The turbo will be very low boost, like 3-5psi. It's mainly going on for a couple of reasons. #1, she likes the noise. #2 it would be nice to do 55mph up hill empty. #3 it made her Grandpa chuckle when we talked about it. Honestly it's as much decoration as anything else.

The EFI has multiple boost protection features to cut fuel and spark. Both are set up in the tune already. One of the reasons for swapping to the Hyper Spark is so we have full control of the timing through the ECU to mitigate the detonation risks of a stick weight, blown diaphragm etc. We could use a drop in MSD distributor and get the same features, but that wouldn't be as fun and unique and adapting the Hyper Spark. Plus the HyperSpark looks better IMO.

The original carb and distributor will come along in a storage box for emergencies if needed. I also have a pipe to replace the turbo if it fails so we can simply remove it, bolt the pipe to header flange and exhaust and run N/A.

YOU GUYS ARE 100% CORRECT, THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA FOR MOST PEOPLE!

100% agree with you! I'm the guy that gets brought all the EFI failures to fix for these guys. You'd be amazed at how bad guys can screw up simple systems! I've fixed a lot of these and can tell you 95% of the issues are installation errors. I've seen fuel lines zip tied to drive shafts, 02 bung leaks, plug wires laying in header tubes, vacuum booster ports left open, distributor rotor phasing wrong, bad alternators etc etc etc. We actually bought this 2bbl system for $200 with the distributor and everything as "the module is bad, won't read tach signal", we got it home and all it needed was a firmware update, the first page in the Holley manual....works like a charm now. The common joke is "just needs a little tuning" or the older version "carb problems" haha.

Since covid we did get bit with a brand new bad Terminator ECU. Always fun to get a new engine on the dyno that just pops and bangs. But other than that we've only had little quirks like the Holley CTS issues which are common.

Our EFI will be bench tested on our distributor machine and base line tune loaded and test fired if I can find another donor engine that isn't a 54 lol.

I'm with Dave- Unless you're filming a TV show for Motortrend TV it would be really bad to break something important because it over-boosted or because some sensor wasn't working correctly.  The EFI bugs would be one thing and adding a turbo setup would just be that much more hassle...unless you really know turbos.  
Just think of everything that could go wrong.  Good drama on the Roadkill show...not so much fun when you just want to get it home.  

I think you'd be better off driving the truck home as is and then install the EFI later. I know of three guys that went the EFI route and all have removed it due to nightmares with it

SE Wis

Supposedly, the SBF distributors are shorter that the Y's. and it's the gear location.  The was a big todo abut the Cardone rebuilds as they were using SBF castings for the y's and they were shorter than a Y distributor.  Has this changed ???


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Great points charlie. I've read that the SBF is a drop in. I verified the part number on the Holley Distributor is for a 302 SBF. The issue is the main OD that locates the distributor in the block is 1.500" on my 54 Y block, but it's 1.625" on my SBF distributor. This is what led me to ask on here to see if it was a 54 fluke, or something else.