BBC motor mount question

[mrr1999]

I am in the middle of building my 69 Camaro and I pulled the motor (BBC) over the weekend to begin stripping/smoothing the firewall and noticed that whoever owned the car before me used a hammer to dent the firewall in enough to allow the distributor to clear. (Denting it big-time!)

The car was originally a small block car. So I am wondering, why he would have needed to do that to make it fit. Even now, with the "hammer adjustment" the distributor is super tight to the firewall. Does it sound like he used the wrong motor mount perches or could it be something else? Do BBC motor mounts move the motor forward compared to small block mounts?

Thanks,
Mike