I am having trouble reinstalling my dist. I cannot get it to drop all the way down. I can feel the gear slide into place but then it just stops. It has about 3/4 of an inch left to go. I marked the position prior to taking it out so there should not be a problem with getting back in the correct position.
The only thing that could keep it from dropping is the oil pump drive shaft ... Look down in the hole and make sure you see it centered in the bottom. You say you marked the position ... did you turn the crank after removing the distributor?
If you put a little pressure down on the dist and turn the motor a little (either by hand or with the starter) it should drop right in. You will have to make sure it is dropped into the right gear after you do this.
It's the oil pump driveshaft. You can also just get a socket and extension and turn it a little at a time till it drops in.
Thats what I do, just keep a little pressure on the distributor while turning the motor by hand, it should fall right into place. It looks like you have the valve covers off, take the distributor out, turn the motor until both rocker arms on #1 are all the way up, then point the rotor botton to the #1 cylinder and put the distributor in, if it ends up not falling all the way(like mine always do) then a little pressure and a turn of the motor and it will fall.
I used a 1/4" nut driver to slightly rotate the pump shaft. Move this slightly, try again, etc, etc. Keep doing this until the distributor drops in. I spent a weekend of frustration until I tried the nut driver, five minutes later, Hoooray! It's the best solution. Grant Live and learn!
5946 is right on the money, after getting TDC on the crank pulley with #1 on compression stroke as stated, drop in dizzy with rotor on #1 cap and wire tower. Use a 15/16th's deep socket on the balancer bolt and turn engine clockwise holding the dizzy down and it will eventually drop in. The gear is engaged with the cam gear but almost always the puny little oil pump drive shaft is off center in it's guide hole for the bottom dizzy shaft. After installation, turn engine back to TDC on balancer and check position of rotor in relation to #1 on cap. Best done with spark plugs out to make turning easier. Set the timing to specs afterwards.
Thanks for the tips guys. When I get back to it this weekend, I think I will try rotating the pump shaft with the 1/4" driver. Seems like it would be the easist of the solutions.
