I recently dropped in my rebuilt 302 in my 69 and the intermediate shaft has come out of the oil pump. Would I be able to get it back in from the top or am I going to have to pull the pan?

 

If you can see it thru the distributor hole, you may be able to retrieve it.
Magnet or clasper tool...
Good luck.

 

I can retrieve it but not had any luck getting it into the oil pump. I guess I'll keep trying, really dont want to pull the pan.

 

When I did this the last time I used a 1/4" drive deep-well socket with a 6" extension to help me put it in place and it worked like a champ.

Then I proceeded to drop the whole damn socket and extension rig right down in to the block so I had to pull the pan anyway. I could live with an oil pump drive shaft laying in the bottom of the pan but I could not see letting my socket & extension stay in there.

A small piece of wire wrapped around the extension would have prevented that.

If you do drop the shaft down in there, don't sweat it. OK. You can sweat it a little but if it does fall out and into the pan then rotate the engine by hand a few times to make sure it is not interfering with the rotating mass and rock on.

If it makes you feel better put a strong magnet, like one out of a hard drive, on the bottom of the pan to keep it in place.

 

like fastback said secure the extension i usually tape the sockets etc together

 

Its even easier than that. I dropped my shaft and the best solution was to get a staw and stick the shaft inside. McDonalds use to work but we ended up using a Wawa staw. It should hold very firmly so you will need something to hold the shaft in when you pull the straw off. I think we used a broken antenna but I'm sure you will find something.

 

Straw, huh? I like that. I'm going to store that one away for future reference.

 

Hi,
I did that too. Four years later when I rebuilt the engine, I retrieved it from the pan. Huh, no rust what so ever LOL!

 

Thanks for all the replies....i havent actually dropped the shaft into the oil pan, in fact it doesnt seem like it would fall--of course I'll walk out into the garage and it will.

Right now it is hitting the oil pump but not dropping into the hole that spins the pump. I need to find some thinner needle nose pliers because I cant get mine down in there.

Secondly, should there be some kind of sealant or something that holds it on to the pump? I had my distrib in there when it was on the stand and everything was fine. When I pulled the distrib to hook the chain on and drop it into the car out pops the intermediate shaft.

 

Hi,
First, NO!, there is no sealant. There is a ring that fits onto the shaft that, when assembled correctly, "(keyword correctly)" will not allow the shaft to to fall into the abyss. (oil pan).
OK, the reason it does not easily, drop into place is the hex design. It has to align with the oil pump input on one side and the the distributor side, as well. It's frustrating at times to align the dizzy with the input shaft.
Hope this helps a bit.
Ken