just pulled my old intake off and threw my new edelbrock intake on. i marked the rotor position, and distributer position very well. i also took a digital picture in case i damaged the marks. the distributer won't drop back into the correct position now. somehow the damn oil pump moved so i can't line things back up correctly. for your reference, the original rotor position was pointing straight forward (right at the firebird symbol on the nose), and now the position is pointing a couple degrees past the passenger side headlight

do i just line everything back up relative to the new rotor position (easy to do thanks to the pictures), or do i have to get the oil pump lined back up somehow?

isn't it interesting how none of this stuff ever goes like it does on tv?

thanks all,

Jason

 

You have to get the oil pump shaft lined back up so it will drop all the way home. The distributor gear can drop in on any one of 13 different positions (it has 13 teeth at the bottom) but the oil pump shaft can only drop in on 2 positions (it's a straight slot).

A flashlight and a real long screwdriver can get the job done. Remember that the distributor turns about 25* CW from the point the teeth begin to engage on the cam to the point it's dropped all the way home. So you need to drop it in with the rotor pointed about 25* CCW from where you want it to point when it's all the way home. Also, the oil pump shaft engages shortly after the distributor gear does so you also need to have the oil pump shaft turned about 25* CCW from where it will finally point when the distributor is home as well.

Takes a couple tries the first time you do it, but you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. I've done so many I can almost always drop them on the first try now.

 

ahh... so i'm not freakin nuts. awesome. I will have to aquire a screwdriver of massive proportions tomorrow and get it settled back in there correctly.

luckily, i marked the exit position of the rotor as well as the original one so i knew which position to start it back into. thanks for the info!

 

put the dissy in the position to where it will drop down if it were aligned with the oil pump shaft

turn the key over untill it drops bolt it all down and rock and roll

several people may disagree with me but I have never hurt a dissy gear

 

I remember how much of a pain in my *** it was to drop that thing in. Ugghh.

 

Why not line up your timing mark up on cyl 1 tdc then just drop the dissy and where ever your rotor ends up make that cylinder 1, if it is off a little twist the dissy a little to line up. I don't know why you go through all that fuss and muss.

 

That's a lot more fuss and muss than just putting it where it was and bumping the engine over until the oil pump and distributor line up and the distributor drops down where it belongs.

 

if thats the case, then why can't i just line the mark in the distributer up with the new rotor location and be done with it? or am i missing something?

 

I just pick and drop dizzy till it lines up. The pump shaft will move along ahead of the dizzy, due to the twist in the gears. no tools just a little more time. You do not have to look in the hole or be skilled at anything. But each to their own.

 

Okay, dumb question: Are you turning the rotor counterclockwise from your mark before you try to drop in the distributor? As in, where the rotor turned when you pulled the distributor out?

If you do that, the rotor should be close to your mark, even if the oil pump shaft doesn't exactly line up anymore. Bumping the engine over will eventually line the two up so the distributor drops all the way down. When you bring the engine back to #1 TDC, the rotor should be pointing where it was before you removed anything (assuming you had it at TDC when you made your mark).