Hang on a second, this is confusing enough. Greg said that the distributor is in the back, Tom said it is in the front. Which is it? Based on the automotive books that are guiding me through the re-build it seems to me that the distributor is in the back of the engine, but those books (annoyingly) don't ever explicitly define the front and the back of the engine - it is just inferred.
Here is one (crude) diagram I found online:
The image seems to align with what I have assumed is the front of the engine.
Let's get more basic. Is the thrust bearing in the front or the back? On my engine the thrust bearing is on the same end as the distributor and the flywheel and opposite the balancer and cam cogs/chain.
Thanks,
Derek