Marinette Boat Forum

OK then, what makes the counter engine run in reverse rotation?

The special starter spins the engine the other way, then the pistons come up to top dead center on the compression stroke in the reverse firing order, so then the firing order on the distributor is in the reverse order even though the rotor spins in the same direction. So it runs the other way.
If you put a left handed carburetor on that engine you will find that as it runs, it will make gasoline and push it back to the fuel tank. It will never make as much gas as the other one burns because these engines are not 100% efficient. This is why you always have one standard and one reverse rotation engine working together.
Happy Easter, and don't forget to change your calendars. --Ed

love the April Fooooools twist to the second paragraph

Good one.

That reminds me of J C Whitney catalog items that promise to save X % of fuel. If you add a bunch of them, all together, gas would have to flow out the tank!


Jeff

There is no such thing as a reverse rotation distribtor, it's only the collar thats on it that holds down the distribtor drive gear that makes it different. The distribtor drive gear which also drives the oil pump is different and must be for a reverse rotation motor only as the cam must be too. This gives you the different firing order and makes the engine a reverse rotation engine.

Sorry Harry you are wrong the distributors are the same . I have changed mine several times the cw will work with the ccw motor and and the ccw will work on the cw motor. The distributors turn the same direction. There is not such an animal as a reversing distributor for these motors. You can check for yourself both distributors turn clockwise.
You can check with every manufacturer both engines use the same part #.
The collar must be used on the ccw motor.
Bob

I gota have one of those left handed carbs.

..."Btw the gear on that distributor is exactly the same as the other one."

Then how does the cam rotate it and the oil pump the other direction?

Jeff

I don't know the specifics, but when I had a pair of 1975 318's, I ordered two of the exact same Mallory distributors. The only difference was that the reverse engine had the collar that went over the distributor shaft. They both worked great.