OK... im about at my wits end for this project... had the oil pump apart on the 455 (buick) to re-seal the thing as i found thats where it was pissin oil like a hemoraging elephant after the great "cap and rotor" in frame rebuild. . . now, seems i cant get the distributor back onto the oil pump drive slot on the shaft... its engaging the cam gear fine, and it slides in and out of the timing cover great... coated the base of the dizzy body and gear with ***embly lube to ease things... i have tried positioning the pump shaft through 180* and also tried seating the dizzy gear/cam gear and turning the crank to rotate the dizzy shaft to meet with the slot on the pump... NO DICE what am i doin wrong? the thing damn near fell in after the last time i had it out... no burrs or obstructions on the dizzy shaft or the pump shaft...
If the problem is the pump shaft and not linning up with the dist and not seating. You should be able to stick a long screwdriver in the hole and turning the pump shaft to line up with the dist. I hope this solves you problem.
Yeah a friend of mine spent a while with a Y block trying to mash the wrong style dizzy (early Y with an SBC style drive, not hex) onto a different pump shaft. Just get a flash light and tweak it in small incriments (the oil pump shaft) and it will eventually slide in.
original dizzy and gear... new pump shaft/gear... BUT... i did have all these parts together and running last week. had the truck at the rust revival and it almost fell together the last time... now, it just wont go. how much pressure should i need to use pushing down to get it to slide once the things are aligned? seems to me it shouldnt be that much
i think im just gonna get me another beer, and do like unionville suggested... patience and 1* motions... frustrating is all... hehe
no pressure really, sounds like the pump shaft just needs a little turn, look at your dizzy and then look down at the pump shaft, if there off just one cog it wont go, i have done this enough times i know that you can line the pump shaft up by finding out where you dizzy will drop in all the way and then pulling it out and move it one cog and then droping it back in over and over till its lined up where you want it to be, sound like alot of work but it only takes a few secs.
tried the starter bump trick this afternoon... like i say, manyanna is another day with fresh eyes and hands... thanks for the tips guys... we'll see what happens
I don't just bump the starter to get it to go, I let the motor spin over as I apply pressure to the distributor. Never had one not go in that way.
Lots of good advice here. Key thing is not much pressure is required. One thing that could be fooling you is when you look at the distributor tang from the bottom so you can figure out the angle, keep in mind the oil pump gear shaft will be at the opposite angle. Sort of a mirror image thing. And . . . make sure you have adequate room to swivel the distributor to the correct place so as to have the right timing. Did you pack the gears with Vaseline when you re-***embled? If you didn't there's a good chance the oil pump won't pick up the prime. Been there, done that....
when you drop your dizzy in you need to be on top dead center so you can end up with your vacuum advance can in the correct spot, and have your rotor ****on pointing at the #1 plug terminal, if you roll your motor over who knows where it will drop in.
If it's already engaged in the cam gear and near where you want it, it will line up when it drops, it will only move the rotor about 10 degrees, so just plan for it when you initially drop it in the cam gear. I usually drop it in and if it goes I'm good but if not I back it up a tooth and spin the motor till it drops.
yup, done it like Mr. Coyote there for hundreds... well dozens of times and it's always worked for me too
Take note of where the guys who use it come from. Canada, UK, Australia & New Zealand from what I see. It's an accepted part of their hot rodding language.
Hey now! We're from Wisconsin... we only <i>survive</i> in MN... well, problem solved last night 'round 9pm or so... well, problem FOUND, and solved 'bout 11pm. pump gear shaft slot had a friggin burr on the inside of the tang slot and was keeping the distributor from sliding down... musta bumped it on something when i pulled it appart to re-seal the pump cover the other day... thing that takes the most time is cleaning the pump gear cavity and timing cover/pump cover mating surfaces of petroleum jelly so the high-tac will adhere to the mating surface and gaskets... C9, indeed i do, and did pack the cavity and cover with jelly... oil pressure is my friend. got it all ****oned up late last night and tried firing but i got the timing off by one tooth, but the pressure DID come right up with the starter, so if she sealed i win... just gotta get the timing right and she should be golden for a while. million thanx to ya'all once again...
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