I have a 1955.1 3100 with a 235 inline six. I drove her around the neighborhood, pulled into the driveway and shut her off. The next day I went to crank her up and she made a noise like somebody threw gravel in a blender. I had my son come out and crank her over, while I was under the hood, looking things over. When he tried to start her, there was no noise, but she didn't start. I verified that fuel was getting to the carb. I then pulled the distributor cap off and had him try cranking her again. This time I heard the noise again and noticed the distributor wasn't rotating.

So since I am only a YouTube mechanic, I have decided to get some thoughts and advice. I looked online and found this forum. So here I am to collect and advice and thoughts you all care to provide. My initial thoughts are gloom and despair. It sounds like the gear on the distributor may have broken, If that's the case, what's the possibility of being able to just replace the distributor? If it broke, does that mean I have a bunch of metal that I now have to get out of the engine? Are we talking just dropping the oil pan, cleaning it up and put it back in place? What's the odds the cam gear is broken as well? How do I check, bore scope?

I have not pulled the distributor yet, it' just too cold out. But the next time we have decent weather, my plan is to pull it out and have a look. Which brings me to another point, what do I need to know about pulling the distributor? The oldest engine I had before this was a 1968 327. It had one screw holding the clamp that held the distributor in. Not sure on this old girl.

Thanks in advance for any help.

BH

Last edited by BigHog; 02/20/2019 9:33 PM.