The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop dist. oil pump drive

I pulled the dist. out of my '51 jimmy 228 to install a new vac. advance. the oil gauge showed no pressure. I pulled the dist. and ran the pump with a drill. Pumped like a champ. I put chalked in the oil pump slot and re-installed the dist. Didn't appear that
the shaft is getting into the pump drive. The dist. shaft is 4-3/4" and so the distance into oil pump drive. What am I missing.

As the distributor is installed and the gear engages the camshaft, the distributor will turn a little as the gears mesh. You'll need to account for that slight turn as the gear, the shaft and the oil pump interact to assure that the tang on the distributor shaft engages the slot in the pump drive gear. This is a very common problem. Loosen the clamp on the distributor housing so the distributor can drop into the engine far enough to mesh properly, then deal with setting the ignition timing once everything is mated and the oil pump is turning.
Jerry

Hey, Hotrod, Sorry so long getting back to you! Every day duty, you know. Appreciate you answering my thread! It did the trick,
though I spent an hour trying to stab the drive. I eventually bumped the starter and it fell in. I'm sure you were aware of that trick but it's not advisable to pass to a newbie, do to timing. I proudly believe I would have eventually hit upon the clamp thing, tho it's
in the 90's now and I wasted two days believing in my skill. Anyway, the oil gauge jumped to 30 lbs. Hopefully I didn't cause any permanent damage. STOVEBOLT IS A WINNER AGAIN. Thanks friend, hope to hear from you again down the dirt road!

den-den, Thanks for guys like Hotrod Lincoln, did the same thing on my 235, thought I picked up the wrong dist. Found another in the box did the same thing. Ordered a nos off Ebay, too long. It was for a 55 235 2nd series. An old timer (like me), did what Jerry did.....perfect. This needs to be passed around. Doc