Logo

Reverse Rotation

RH93

New member
To make a long story short,

I bought a Penn Yan Explorer with a cracked 305 Chevy (220 Crusader)

I have a spare standard rotation 305 chevy, from a Third Gen Firebird.
My plan is to disassemble the standard 305,
-Do a bank to bank swap on the rods and pistons so the offsets are correct,
-Reuse the crankshaft (if the journals on the crank look good)
-New rod and main bearings.
-Quick hone on the cylinders.
-Fresh piston rings.
-install the correct main seals.
-install all of the other necessary reverse rotation parts.

Theoretically this should all work. This is not my first engine build. But I am trying to do this on the cheap. I'll be checking all of the clearances as I go.

My hang-up is with the crankshaft. Will there be an issue reversing the rotation of a used crank that has spent its whole life rotating in the standard rotation? I suppose I can have the crank polished in reverse, but if I disassemble everything and the journals are clean, I'd prefer to save a few bucks and avoid the machine shop. Obviously if there's wear on the crank, I would have no choice but to get it polished.
 
it should work, but you'll have to make sure the cylinders/pistons have adequate clearance after the 'bank swap'.

the correct camshaft and the drive gears should be all thats left...and make sure you get the RH seals to match the block...the distributor should be the same ...
 
This is just me, but I wouldn't bother with a 305 when there are so many running take out 350s in the world to be had for very small money. To my knowledge, the only difference on a reverse rotation engine is the camshaft and distributor drive gear. The rear main seal gets a reverse rotation version. That's how my Fords were, so I imagine the Chevy similar.
Is it a single or one of a set of two (right hand and left hand)? If it must match the other then NVM what I said about a 350.
 
FWIW, all GM standard production V-8 marine engines (from 1970 thru the late 1990's), in the reverse rotation (RH) configuration, use a gear drive for the camshaft and identical distributors as the LH versions.
 
Back
Top