Confusing allright (this post has been edited for accuracy)

Most of the time you are instructed to look at the flywheel to determine which way the motor is functioning, this instruction then gets very confused with flywheel forward installations. Then you have the motors that are really turned around backwards, that adds to the confusion. I think the safest way to really tell (from a machine shop point of view) is to find the traditional front of the motor. Just dealing with the small block GM (because big blocks and Ford small and big motors differ) that would be the place where the traditional distributor is mounted, on the BACK of the motor as it sits in the traditional automotive configuration(yes some of the old SBC motors had the distributor on the rear transmission case, more confusion). If you find the front of the motor, regardless of where the flywheel is mounted, or whether the motor is installed backwards or frontwards, THEN you can tell which way the thing is running by looking at the direction of the belts and accy gear. That is proof positive, regardless if CC says it's a RH or LH installation.

Now......looking at the front of the engine spinning, go to the rear and look again. THAAAAT is the rotation we're looking for. If it is spinning CCW when viewed from the rear, it's STANDARD ROTATION as in all V8 automobiles I'm aware of. If it's spinning RH, then it's the OPPOSITE ROTATION, with special marine cam.

Your machine shop will need to know, because if they don't..............ohhhh brother.............are you in for some pain and suffering. They should be able to tell once they get in, but if you're paying the tuition, get out the $$$.

To add to the confusion...............almost ALL, perpahs ALL single engine runabouts of inboard configuration have a RH prop. Does this mean they have a RH (opposite rotation) motor in every case? "NO"...........because if that motor is turned around backwards with the tranny mounted on the front, you have a LH standard automotive rotation (with standard cam) driving your prop in RH config.

To me, being an engineer by trade, this is not unexpected. Engineers have often worked long and hard, overtime into the night, to make things more complicated than they need to be.

Tom











edit comment: an apparant error which looks like an oversight has been corrected in bold print, and this was necessary to avoid publishing incorrect info and creating confusion. If I have messed up this post, Tom, please advise and I'll make whatever correction is necessary. Thanks, Paul, forum moderator.