Re: distributor

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

In Linda Tripp's secret telephone recording, Monica and Jon Wangelin
<jwangelin@domain.elided> were heard saying...

>Recently I had the 196 in my '66 800 rebuilt.  The problem is that I
>cannot get the timing correct.  It is set at 5 degrees and I need to
>rotate the distributor another few degrees counterclockwise.  The
>problem is that the housing of the distributor is already pressed up
>against the engine block.  It was fine prior to the rebuild.  Any idea
>how to fix this situation?

Jon,

This is an easy one...

Simply remove the distributor cap and the hold down clamp completely.  Lift
the entire distributor carefully straight up.  As you lift it, you'll see the
rotor move about 1/8 turn clockwise (I think that's the direction) as the
distributor drive gear disengages from the camshaft.  Once you clear the
camshaft worm gear, you will be able to turn the rotor (distributor shaft)
freely.  Once free, rotate the tip of the rotor counterclockwise (from
wherever it ended up when you lifted the distributor) about 1/4" and then
lower the distributor back into the engine block.  You may need to wiggle the
distributor shaft a little to get the housing completely seated in the block.


The whole idea with this operation is to have the distributor shaft's drive
gear skip one tooth over on the camshaft worm gear.  This will cause the
distributor housing to need to be rotated slightly counterclockwise to have
the same rotor to distributor cap orientation as before.  In your case, it
should allow you to set your timing as desired and not have the vacuum advance
hit the block.  You might even need to skip two teeth, but try one to start.

Regards,

John L.
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