I currently bought a 331 stroker shortblock. After assembly with all new parts I noticed my distrubutor will not sit all the way down into the block. If I try to tighten the hold down bolt it will lock the oil pump up. My block and heads have not been shaved and my oil pump,shaft and distrubutor are the right parts according to Summit. I don't know what to do next. PLEASE HELP! Thanks, Jim
That's pretty common with a SBF. It's not really a problem, just the way they go together. Put just a tad white lithium grease on the distributor gear and on the socket for the pump drive shaft. Place the distributor in as far as it goes without undue force. Then turn the crankshaft until the distributor falls in to place. Usually take 1/4-1/2 turn. Now turn the engine over a couple of times and return it back to TDC. Remove the distributor again. Look at the gear pattern in the grease. You should see that it's an even pattern across the gear face, with just a little bit of grease left between the gear teeth. If the wear pattern is too low or too high on the gear, you'll have to move the gear on the distributor shaft, or shim the distributor. If there is no grease left between the gears, then it's too close to the cam shaft centerline and you need a smaller gear. Also, look in the drive shaft socket. By looking at the grease in the bottom of the socket, you can tell how far the shaft goes in. If it's bottoming in the hole you need a shorter shaft, or you need to shim the distributor. If the shaft is too long, something will give at 5,000 rpm's, and it won't be pretty. Failure to do these checks could result in lunching the cam shaft and/or the distributor gear in a short time. Unfortunately, it's an often forgotten step in blue printing the engine.
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