my distributor won't go al the way down to the intake on a sbc ,and no its not the oil pump shaft not lined up, tried 3 extra distributors, none will,but if i use my prelube too which is a old distributor with gears ground off it goes down ??? some tell me why, and its a point type dist also ?????
It most likely IS because the oil pump shaft is NOT lined up..........when you use the pre-luber with no gear teeth it's 'free' to turn a little to align. When you install one with gear teeth, the dist shaft TURNS as the gear teeth mesh......the gear teeth are helical, meaning curved, and they will rotate slightly as they engage. Try turning the pump shaft a small amount IN THE DIRECTION the dist shaft rotates and it shoud slip into place. Ray
Also, I know it seems simple but check the disty hole and ensure there isn't a lost gear or pin already sitting on there.
I say the pin in the shaft on the distributor isn't lining up right with the slash in the oil pump rod. You have to turn the rod a little bit to get it to line up with the pin.
As the rest said, you need to turn the oil pump shaft so it lines up with the distributor *when it is in the slightly raised up position*. Your distributor gear causes the rotor to turn out when you pulled the distributor. It also turns when you drop it in. If the oil pump is not lined up, it will not drop down. Once you line it up (use a long screwdriver) with the raised position, when it drops down it will turn the oil pump shaft. You can also just bump the starter and the distributor will drop down as you put slight pressure on it, but then you need to put it to TDC again if that is what you are doing.
Don't know how old your engine is, or if it's a new build involving parts from different sources, but I ran into a deal in the early 70s with a couple of 327 truck engines that had different length oil pump intermediate shafts. Seems like the difference may have been about 3/8"-1/2" (don't remember at this late date).
I replaced my intake manifold a little while ago, bolted it down, lined up the oil pump shaft and the distributor still wouldn't seat.I Asked the all mighty HAMB'ers and found I had bolted down the intake just a hair off .I loosened it up moved it a hair and bolted it back down, that fixed my issue.
Pretty much like everyone else said, but I put my dist. in and just turn the crank bolt with a ratchet while holding pressure on the top on the dist.
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