You can remove the distributor and try to re-orient the oil pump drive slot with a long straight screwdriver, but this is somewhat difficult. This is normal and is caused by the oil pump drive not engaged into the drive tang in the distributor. In almost all cases, the distributor will sit about 3/8 inch off of the manifold. Unless you are very lucky, the distributor will not drop fully into the intake manifold. If the rotor is not pointed close to the Number One mark, pull the distributor and re-position the rotor until it comes close. Position the distributor so that the vacuum advance canister is located on the passenger side of the engine pointing roughly forward. With these marks in place, drop the distributor with the gasket into the distributor hole with the rotor pointing near the Number One mark.Īs the distributor drive gear engages the teeth on the camshaft, this will move the rotor slightly clockwise. This can be placed anywhere you like, but if you are a Chevrolet traditionalist, this ends up roughly at about the 5 o’clock position on the distributor as you are looking at it from the front of the engine.Īlso place a mark on the corresponding Number One plug wire position on the distributor cap. We use a black Sharpie to place a mark on the distributor body where we want the Number One spark plug wire to be located. With that set, remove the cap from the distributor. We prefer to set the initial timing for most engines at 10 degrees Before Top Dead Center (BTDC). Once you feel compression building, look for the zero mark on the harmonic balancer to approach the timing tag. With the Number One spark plug removed, place your thumb over the hole while turning the engine. If the engine is in the car, you can use the starter motor to crank the engine. In our case, the spark plugs were all removed, which makes turning the engine over very easy. Our particular engine is a brand new Chevrolet Goodwrench crate engine on which we’ve already installed a new intake manifold. However, the process we’ll describe is exactly the same for any four-stroke engine. The process is easy and it will take longer to read about than to actually perform the task, so let’s get started.įor this procedure, we will use a small-block Chevy because that was the closest engine for the photos. But if you are working on an older engine with a distributor, this is essential information. With the latest generation of distributor-less engines, this tribal knowledge has slipped from its “must-know” status. Dropping a distributor into the engine is a time-honored procedure that has been around since the first engines coughed their way to life more than 100 years ago.
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