distributor won't drop

ak68 · May 24, 2007

I've double checked and I'm at TDC. I'm running EFI. The 351w dizzy will install. It seems to hit the cam gear and stop. I have a flat tappet cam and I changed the steel gear to cast. I'd appreciate any tips. I have tried another dizzy w/o a gear and it drops in fine.

JWMcCrary · May 24, 2007

It's probably not lined up with the oil pump shaft. Turn the engine a little holding pressure on the dizzy and it should drop in.

daddyg · May 24, 2007

I agree with JWMcCrary that it's not lining up with the oil pump shaft. You can also turn the shaft with a special tool or a socket and extension, just be careful not to drop anything into the oil pan.

BYUBRONC · May 24, 2007

Bump the ignition, most of the time it will drop in on it's own. Even better if you can have someone bumo it for you, while you apply gentle pressure.

fstik · May 24, 2007

Yeah, you'll want to be careful. I dropped my oil pump shaft down into the pan, and had to take the pan off to retrieve it. Nice waste of a couple of hours...

ak68 · May 24, 2007

I can turn the distributor shaft while applying slight pressure down but it does not engage. Would an engine bump work better, and what about TDC with an engine bump? If the dizzy seats with the bump it will probably be off a tooth or two and will have to be pulled again won't it?

fstik · May 24, 2007

I took a quarter inch drive deep socket (don't remember the size) and secured it to an extention with some tape (so it wouldn't fall off into the pan) and used it to turn the oil pump shaft just a little until I could get the distributor to seat with the rotor pointing where I wanted it to. Be careful when you lift the socket off of the shaft so you don't pull it out of the oil pump. You could also probably use a really long pair of hemostats to turn the shaft as well. Take your time and good luck!

fstik

BYUBRONC · May 24, 2007

Your cam is already engaged, it's your oil pump thats not. When you bump the ignition, it will turn the distributor by turning the cam, until it engages the oil pump. I did mine about 5-6 times during my build up. If you have a standard, you could put it in 3rd gear and rock the EB until it engages the oil pump.

76 bronco J · May 24, 2007

,,,, I prefer to use the socket method mentioned above to turn the oil pump drive shaft slightly till' the distributor will seat,,, as mentioned above duct tape the socket & extensions together or you will be sorry.....302's usually- 1/4" socket ,, 351's-5/16" socket,,,, little tip>>>when installing go ahead & line up the balancer on the prefered intial timing mark instead of installing at TDC so you will be right on or within a degree of the required intial timing upon startup

ak68 · Jun 4, 2007

Call me stupid

I had 2 distributors, one with a cracked plastic housing and no gear and one with a good housing and a gear. I've been trying the good one and that one wouldn't drop. I bought all this stuff from a guy selling off his 351w EFI setup. The good distributor turns out to be a 302 dizzy. I should have noticed the smaller shaft but I didn't think to compare them until a couple of days ago. Thanks for the suggestions. I rotated the crank 10 degrees to set it 10 BTDC. The repaired and regeared 351w dropped right in pointed to #1. I should be able to finish up the rest of my wiring and finally get to hear what this 393w sounds like.

distributor won't drop

ak68

Sr. Member

JWMcCrary

Bronco Guru

daddyg

Bronco Parts Collector

BYUBRONC

Full Member

fstik

Full Member

ak68

Sr. Member

fstik

Full Member

BYUBRONC

Full Member

76 bronco J

Bronco Guru

ak68

Sr. Member

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