Hey all, I just recently upgraded my '66 289 V8 to a 4-barrel Holley and new intake. I installed everything, got it back together, cranked it and all was good. Except, the intake was leaking where is wasn't sealed up good right around the lip near the distributor so I had to tear back it down.

Now, I have everything back together but I cannot for the life of me get the distributor back into place. I marked everything before I took it out but when I place the distributor back in, in likes about 3/4" of an inch going all the way down and seating properly.

So, what is the best way to proceed from here? Do I need to get the engine back on top dead center and then try to install it from there? I am certainly not an engine genius so I would appreciate any tips of advice you guys can give me!

Thanks!

 

That is caused by the oil pump shaft not lining up with the distributor. Put it in as far as you can and then turn the engine slightly cw with a breaker bar while pressing down on the distributor. It should drop right into place. Turn the engine by hand cw back to TDC on the cylinder 1 compression stroke (almost two rotations from where the distributor dropped into place) and turn the distributor housing to align it with your rough timing location (alignment mark you made or about 10 degrees before #1 cylinder fires).

 

The oil pump shaft has shifted and is probably laying against the wall of the block. I take something very long, (that way if I drop it, it won't fall into the eng I can still get a grab it), and dab some grease on the end of the shaft to lift it away from the block. From there the dizzy should drop right in.

 

Thanks guys, I know exactly what you are talking about and I figured that may be the problem. When I look down in there with a light, that shaft that goes into the bottom of the distributor is shifted over to the right and not centered.

The grease idea may work just perfectly, I will give that a try today.

 

as for the sealing at the front of the engine. This is a very common problem. Don't use the cork gaskets that come with the intake or gasket set. Put a nice thick bead of silicone into it's place.
As for not getting the distributor in, see the posts above. they say it all.
I came across that problem a lot of times. Sometimes it's already good enough to pull the distributor out, then back in then out then back in. Eventually and for no good reason it'll drop just right in. It usually takes me 5-10 times trying. If that doesn't help, what the others recommend will help

 

The oil pump shaft not being centered won't prevent it from seating in the distributor shaft because the distributor shaft has a slight taper to it. Fakesnake's method will work just fine.

Just to make sure, you do know you still need to time the engine with a timing light after you're done, right?

 

Yeah I know it still needs some timing work afterwards, I was just having trouble getting it in to begin with. I finally looked down in there and noticed that oil pump shaft was not staying centered and I figured that was the problem.