I’m going to do the HEI swap on my dodge D150 this weekend and I’m just reconfirming that as long as I don’t turn the motor over at all, that I can note the direction of the of the housing and the rotor on a fixed object on the block and install the new in in the exact orientation and it should work, correct? I’ve never replaced a distributor before. I’ve read both ways, the motor should be turned to TDC and then install the distributor that way, but since I’m not going to turn the motor over during install that as long as the new one goes in in the exact same orientation at the old one that it should be ok. Thanks!

Because there is a curved gear on the end of the distributor, you should pull the cap and note where the rotor and the vacuum advance are pointing. Then, as you pull the distributor out, note which direction and where the rotor moves to (it will rotate due to the gear). With these spots noted, you just basically reverse things to install, place the rotor in the position it moved to when the distributor was pulled and watch it as it rotates into position when you push the distributor into place. Then, verify positioning is the same as where you started.
That should just about do it.

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN