My distributor is off by a tooth and i was trying to rotate it back 1 but it will only fall down half way... the only thing i could think of was bumping the starter but i thought that might break a tooth or something... how should i do this? i know somebody has had this problem before...

If you look down the hole where the dist goes, you'll see the top of a rod that drives the oil pump. On top of that rod is a slot that engeges the bottom of the dist. Insert a looong flat-blade screwdriver and turn the oil pump drive shaft a little in the direction you want to re-index the dist. Might take a few tries but when it's lined up, the dist will fall down into place no problem.

That's how I had to do it on mine. Worked perfectly.

Bumping the starter is fine, as long as you are only bumping it. I've done it many times with no ill effects.

ok, i will try the skrewdriver thing and if i cant get it i will just bump the starter...

This is correct. You will have to turn the slot about 15 degrees as the gears
are helical and will want to rotate when meshed.

If you look on the distributor shaft (bottom), you will see the tab that inserts
into the drive shaft slot.

This is what you need to align.

Bumping the starter could be a bad method because you will have no
reference of how far the crank turned.

I took it out and looked at the bottom of the distributor and saw that pin that drives the oil pump, i tried with a skrewdriver first but i couldnt see down the manifold and the skrewdriver wasn't very long so i got it in half way and bumped the starter very quikly and it fell right in. now the dist is aligned with the firewall and my aircleaner clears it now! killed 2 birds with 1 stone!

I think he only means after the cam/distributor gears have engaged, but the distributor hasn't engaged the oil pump drive - bump the starter just to get the distributor to drop into the pump drive, as the gears are already in place.

Only potential problem I see with bumping the starter is the cam gear and the dist gear are only partially engaged (before it drops down). I've never seen it cause a problem but the potential is there.

Agreed. It's a good way to grind up the gears.

that is why i didnt just throw it in and hit the starter because i was worried something like that would happen. but ya i set it in the gear where i wanted it and bumped the starter so that the pin would fall into the slot. worked good for me.

Only if you keep cranking it. I can't see it being any kind of issue at all if its just being bumped with the starter - I'm talking like 1/8 turn of the crank at most here, not continuous cranking. I do it all the time, and I've never had a problem, and no unusual wear on the cam or distributors gears. Its perfectly safe IMO.

OK, well you keep doing it your way, and I'll continue to align the slot with
a long screw driver.

Keep that horseshoe handy, because one day you'll end up with a cracked
gear and pieces in the oil pan.

You can pick up a long screwdriver for cheap at any parts store. I cant see why you would ever bump the starter. I have had to rotate the oil pump drive many times.