First off, I cannibalized an old distributor to make an oil pump primer. Do I only need the center shaft for this? No need for the gear or other bits to align it? I guess i'll rent a 1/2 chuck drill and just spin the thing CW for a bit and call it good? (or pop off a valve cover and watch for oil?)

second, I can't get the distributor I want to use, to drop in all the way....? It sits 1/2" too high, and refuses to drop down... I was just test fitting it for now, as I'll leave it out while I drop the motor in, but this is kind of unsettling... The crank is turned to an arbitrary position now, I just don't want to set the motor in the car, turn it over to TDC then try to drop in the distributor and have the same problem still... any thoughts?

 

Yes, all you need is the shaft and the housing; no gear. That is, as long as the oil pump shaft and the dist shaft will stay aliged to each other, without the gear acting like a "collar" holding them together. If they come apart and jam, then take a gear, and grind all the teeth totally off of it, and install it on the shaft normally.

The reason it won't go down the last little bit, is because the shaft is hanging up on the oil pump drive rod. Try lifting the dist up slightly, rotate the shaft, drop again, etc. etc., until they mate up and allow it to go the rest of the way in.

 

hmm, yea, I was thinking without the housing at all. I took the center shaft, and used my angle grinder and removed the top 2", the part with the mechanical advance, and that funky toothed area. Now I have something to grab in the chuck of the drill. But I suppose I can drop the housing into the bore in the block to help align the shaft here.

Prime the motor on the ground, then virgin fire it 2 days later, that sound ok? Or is it crucial to prime it 10 minutes before firing it sorta thing?


yea, that's what I thought would be the reason, but i'm not having a lot of luck getting it to drop in easily. q: I shouldn't need to use ANY force to push the "tang" of the distributor into the slot of the oil pump shaft eh? and the gear on the distributor probably isn't catching on the cam gear eh?

I'll drop in the motor this weekend and hopefully i'll be able to get that distributor in nicely.

 

If the dizzy you are putting in has been overhauled, make sure the cam gear wasn't put back on upside down. That would account for the last 1/2".

Been there