So I had to replace my distributor; sheared off the cap screws in old dist. New one arrived today. Before removing my old distributor, I was careful to mark side of head where rotor pointed and distributor base to block so everything would align with new one. I swapped out the hex oil pump drive shaft into the new distributor and went to install, carefully aligning distributor drive gear to cam gear, allowing for rotation as it seats. The crankshaft has not moved since I started, so nothing should have moved, and theoretically everything should line up with the new distributor using my reference marks. I can't seem to get the new distributor to fully seat to the block. It goes in until it's about 1/8" to 3/16" from fully seated then hits a solid resistance. I double-checked dimensions old to new - length, diameters, number of gear teeth, overall length with oil pump drive shaft and everything seems like an exact match, but still the problem. Installing without the oil pump shaft, it drops right in, aligns properly. It seems maybe the oil pump gear is misaligned, and the shaft won't drop in. Other than trial and error, how close does the hex bore have to be for the drive shaft to drop in? I have a long, hex shaped punch and can manually align the oil pump gear if that's where the problem is. I'm at my wits end. Please help!

 

Figured it out. Just had to marinade on it a while. Used a breaker bar to tweak engine innards until it dropped in - like it was greased.

 

This is an option for those who snap off those dist. cap screws. You don't need to replace the distributor. You can easily drill out the broken screw and either retap it or replace the dist. cap screw with a longer one after drilling out the broken screw and place a nut on the other end. It doesn't take much time or effort and can be done with the distributor in place.

 

What exactly do you mean when you say tweak engine inwards?

 

I just used the breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt to jog the crankshaft a little bit and the distributor dropped right in.

 

I realized every time I pulled the distributor out, the distributor gear advanced the oil pump. 6 sided oil pump shaft, 1/6 of a turn. So 6 removal of distributor puts it back full circle, or first position/TDC 0 degrees.

Almost lost my mind and almost flattened the cam / lifters.

Strange they couldn't come up with and alignment mark.

 

You got nothing better to do at this hour of the night?

 

He POSTED shortly after you. You must have nothing better to do at 2:51 in the morning.

 

He was in a different time zone. I responded to his post.