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Joined: Sep 2008
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I am fitting my dist. in a 58 235 motor and have it indexed for #1 cylinder. I also have the vacuum advance hooked up (the clamps are on, but the motor is not running.. I am just fitting it in).

Even with grease on the base of the dist housing the fit is very tight... I can move it by hand but then I push on the vacuum advance arm to advance the dist housing it seems like its way to tight... plus it does not return to my '0' mark when I let go of the vacuum advance arm.

It this to tight? How could I loosen it up?

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'Bolter
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Do you have an O ring on it by chance?


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"Shoeshine" the part of the housing that fits into the block with a long strip of emery cloth. It shouldn't take much polishing to smooth out any rough spots.
Jerry


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Also make sure that the hole the distributor goes into is clean.

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There were two groves on the cast housing towards the bottom and there was no o-ring. I painted the dist black, so I guess I'll have to clean that off and hit it with some emery cloth.

So it should have a fairly loose fit... enough so the vacuum advance can move it freely??

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The bottom of the housing should be plain metal. No paint, no "O" ring. Yes the vacuum advance needs to move the whole distributor. So it must be a "free running" fit in the block. A bit of work with some emery cloth will make the paint go away. No need to remove any metal just take the paint and any "bumps" off and clean it well. Don't want any abrasive in the motor. Should slip in and turn easy when you are done. Make sure that the oil pump is engaged then set the timing and you are good to go. No gasket here either. Expect it to weep a bit. Then you know it has oil and all is good.


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Thanks all!!


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