Technical Is there supposed to be a gasket here?

Started re-assembly of a 1965 Ford 289 engine. The distributor does not bottom out on the surface of the block as I think it should. The gear and drive rod are engaged, so it should slip down all the way, but there's a gap of a bit over 1/16 of an inch when it stops. Is there supposed to be a gasket here? It's bugging the crap outa me.

 

Oil pump drive to long ? ( shaft )
Depth is not set by a gasket ,
There should be a gasket .

 

Some of the Fords used a thick strange trapezoid cross section rubber distributor seal.



ask your local friendly parts store. Or someone who's been working on cars a while, I have several in my leftover gasket collection.

 

The seal that Squirel posted is probably for the body of the dist housing that seals it to the block bore....There was a discussion on here [not too long ago] but damned if I can find it now, it told how to check dimensions and adjust the gear location to suit......

 

I thought Jim only knew Chevys, looks like he knows Fords too ! He's right, Rock Auto shows these thick ones for the 65 289.
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...asket,7148?a=Referer+r.search.yahoo.com+URL+/


Don

 

Not sure but changing gear doesn't change dist height in block . I'm thinking a 351 dist in a 302 block maybe . I have built and ran a 289/302 for many years . Never had this issue . The gasket your speaking of is just for vapors and PVC sealing . I have seen both ways with and with out gaskets . Shaft should not bottom in the pump or distributor , either incorrect dist or shaft is incorrect. A 351 shaft will not fit into a 302 block without machining . 302 is smaller hex than 351 . I never use stock shafts always hardened aftermarket shafts

 

how about a picture of the distributor, so we can see what it looks like, the part that fits into the block? Does it have an O ring groove?

They're all supposed to be the same...4 inches (or 4.030?) from the where the distributor contacts the block, to the bottom of the gear, when the gear is pushed up all the way.

What does yours measure?

 

My 368 uses the same thing Jim pictured. Without it the distributor would never seat properly. And yes, I got mine from Rock Auto.

 

OK, here's a pic. I wasn't paying attention when I took the dizzy out, so I don't know if the gap was there all along or not. The gear is engaged, and so is the drive hex., but the machined surface on the bottom of the distributor will not contact the block. I'm pretty sure it should, or when I tighten down the clamp it may put a bind on sumpin' There is an o ring on the distributor body so I'm not really worried about it shooting out oil.

 

Is that the original distributor? Ford changed the length of the distributor shaft in 1987 and if you use a 87-95 dist with the early oil pump drive it is too long.

 

Don is correct.
Yes you should have a gasket but your distributer should still set down even without the gasket.


LOL like squirrel I drive chebby motors, I lean toward the belief that friends don't let friends drive fords. but that doesn't mean that I have not or cannot wrench one.

 

I have two FoMoCos right now. And a pile of distributors for one of them....

 

is the distributors hitting the intake have seen that many times

 

I've found that many times you need to turn the motor slightly to get the distributor drop that last little bit...

 

Mine bottoms out and I'm running it without the gasket. No leaks.

 

Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty sure that's the original distributor, but I bought the engine used. I measured the length, and it is 4 inches as squirrel indicated. I'll go screw with it some more and see if I can get it down. It just doesn't seem right.

 

The 289 doesn't use a gasket under the distributor. The o-ring on the housing seals the base of the distributor to the block. The distributor seal shown above is used on Fords where the distributor goes through the intake. The small block distributor goes directly in the block and does not use that seal.

The hex inside the distributor shaft could be buggered up a bit or the shaft itself could even be twisted and not let the distributor go down all the way.

 

Yep, the only place I've seen the big tapered one used is in manifold or Valley pan applications as well. Definitely not on any 221-302 that I've worked on in the past 45 years!

 

thanks for clarifying that. Oddly, the 292 gasket set I just got included that thick gasket, even though the distributor mounts to the block, away from the valley pan.

Is the FE the only one that uses it?