My friends car eats bronze cam gears about every 8000-10000km. A high volume/high pressure oil pump puts a bunch of load on the gear.
That's why there's a big step on the distributor, same size as the gasket. If the gasket don't fall thru, that hole's the right size. If you put a set of meat-hands on a distributor, you can flex it back n forth that much. If it's got bad bushings and excessive end play the problem gets worse because now you're only wobbling/flexing the housing without the tight-fit support of the shaft. If the distributor truly flops around, the problem ain't the intake hole.
distributor is too big??? In any case, If the distributor is down where it belongs it can't move sideways much at all. The pilot bore in the block is too close a fit. If the oil pump drive tang is engaged with the dist. seated on the manifold, something is seriously wrong with some diameters there.
I tore the distributor down to clean it up and inspect the parts/bushings to ensure no catastrophic scenarios. The dist gear is held on by a spring pin, and between it and the housing was 1 washer/bushing. There was very little play, which was within specifications from my research. What I have not done is turn the cam/crank to see if the distributor can seat better. It feels like the distributor is sitting a hair above the machined surface w/ the gasket in place. Maybe im not getting a good install w/ the gears being off by a small amount limiting proper meshing.
dude you're not lining up with the oil pump drive. Reach down in with a long screwdriver and turn it so it aligns with the rotor
I engage the gear in the right place and then bump the engine around until the dist drops the last 1/4" or 1/2"... This has always worked for me on Chevys...
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