A few weeks ago I purchased a 69 convert skylark with a 455. Lots of fun. Then the bronze gear on the hei distributor sheared off. I replaced it with a stock points dist. gear. I thought I knew how to put it back but it's a bear. How do you install the dist back and line up the oil pump too.
Hi, You can turn the oil gear with screw driver and try to line up the rotor to number 1 on the cap. because the dist gear is at an angle it takes a few tries to line it all up.
The gear on the distributor is helical. When you push the distributor home, the rotor will turn counterclockwise (I think). What you need to do, is decide what position you want the rotor to be in, then take a look at the bottom of the distributor, and orient the oil pump drive shaft to be close. Then the distributor should push all the way down. You'll have to start with the rotor position clockwise from where you want it to be, so that as it turns, it will end up positioned properly to fire #1. If the bronze gear wiped out, the engine is now, most likely, out of time. Take the #1 plug out, put your finger over the plug hole, and bump the starter over until you feel compression in the #1 cylinder. Look at the timing mark, it should be very close to the timing tab. Line it up with the 0, and position your rotor to fire the #1 plug.
You may also want to check your oil pressure, and adjust it lower, if it is too high. If there was a bronze gear on the distributor, it was most likely put there because the previous owner was concerned about cam/distributor gear wear. Chances are he had installed a high pressure/high volume oil pump. These pumps use longer gears in combination with a spacer plate. Problem is these pumps take more power to turn, and they can backload the cam gear, timing chain, and cause cam bearing wear. If you have the HV/HP pump, and aren't having problems, you can leave it, but these days we don't use, or need them. Years ago they were a bandaid fix for worn out timing covers (new timing covers were not available). These days there are other options not available years ago. If you want to keep the oil pump as it is, you should use as thin an oil as possible(10W/30), and never get on the engine, until the oil has warmed up, and the pressure comes down.
Thank you for your insight. When I saw the oil pump shaft I attempted to turn it to line it up. I could'nt budge it with a large screw driver. I removed the oil pump to make sure it did'nt lock up and cause my problem. It turned freely. When I tightened the bolts the pump locked up again. It may be time to replace the timing cover and oil pump.
NOT yet! You probably didn't have the proper gasket for the correct pump gear clearence. While you are at it, add the booster plate & regulator (along with the gasket shim kit from TA). You may need a new cover, and if so TA has the best. http://www.taperformance.com/ I think you should call them though, to make sure you know the proper installation steps. I think they also sell new timing covers with the pump already setup as a package too. :TU:
TA does indeed sell the cover with the pump kit and adjustable regulator installed. That's how I bought mine. Basically just bolt it on and go. It's all set up, all clearances checked and adjusted, gears packed for priming and sealed up in a nice heavy plastic bag. Now, if I could just get that pesky Chevy truck out of the shop, I could get the GS assembly going again...... :spank:
Also different gasket thickness TA sells oil pump gaskets of different thickness to set cover to gear end clearance. Check engine manuel it is specific but I believe its .002" I had a problem with clearance on my 71 Stage 1 rebuild and corrected it in this way.
The pump clearance is too tight. Two thousandths of an inch (0.002") is the correct clearance for the oil pump. This is set using the "mix and match" gaskets that TA performance sells. Plastigage works fine for checking the clearance. Clean out all of the oil in the pump, slip the gears in, and place a 1/2" length of the gage material on the bottom of one of the gears. Install and tighten the pump cover, then take it off and check the width of the now smashed Plastigage. Keep swapping in gaskets until this measures two thousandths. I think that doing this will solve your problem. Don't forget to pack the pump cavity with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) before you put it together for the last time. Then spin the pump shaft with an electric drill motor until you get oil pressure. The pump may not prime on the first startup if you don't do this. The new TA covers are nice, but expensive. There is a "booster plate" that can be used to compensate for worn surfaces on the pump cover. Earick Racing is now rebuilding pumps and covers for much less than the new TA cover. But don't do any of this stuff unless you can't get the pump to work right with the clearance set.
Thanks for everyone's advice on this subject. I did manage to get my car running again. It seems I was in a hurry and wasn't paying attention to my firing order. I did buy a kit fom Poston and got the pump going. The thing is all of the bolts that came out were the same length, LONG. ou: When reinstalling the oil pump one of the threads stripped out of the housing. Not to worry a new heli-coil set and a little work I was ready to go. I was a little more cautious this time. Then another bolt stripped out. ou: ou: So another heli-coil goes in. I am afraid to try again. I am not sure what length the bolts are supposed to be that hold the oil pump in. The bolts that came out were all the same length. The kit from Poston had different lengths. I am waiting to try again after I think about it some more.
