im trying to put my distributor in, i marked the rotor, the body and the firewall where it lines up. i get it in the right position and slide it in but i doesnt want to go in all the way! the base of the distributor is about 1/4" inch above the intake manifold where it needs to sit flat against.

ive tried other positions and it slides down all the way, but not everyone bottoms out, some do and some dont. can someone tell me why its doing this and how i can get it in there all the way?

thanks

 

Sounds like the oil pump drive shaft is out of align. When you pull up on the distributor it leaves the shaft first and continues to spiral up. When you reinstall you need to turn the oil pump shaft alittle this or that way so it lines up when the distributor gets to it. Get a long set of needle nose and move it a few slight twists, try installing the distributor and when it's aligned it will pop in. Some say crank the motor while some one pushes down, but for someone without alot of experience, that's a bad idea! you will totally loose all of your timing marks and have to start all over. Hope this helps

 

OH! I almost forgot, the shaft is probably held in place by plastic bushing\connector, if you get too rough you could break it and the shaft may fall into the hole. Hopefully all you would need to do is get a new bushing\connector and reinstall the shaft after you fish it out of the bottom of the hole. Just be patient and gentle when tryiny to align it and you will get it! It lines up in other places because you have moved it into that position by twisting on the distributor

 

I use a really long straight screwdriver, just don't let go of it!! That has proven to work best for me. I have trouble with that every time I pull the distributor. I figure I will have a problem again since I have the distributor out right now, oh well..

 

hey thanks alot!!!!! i got my distributor in and im 1 step closer to having a running car!!!!