I'm trying to fully seat a freshly rebuilt 57 distributor into 57 y-block 292 engine block all stock.  It's been in before prior to rebuild.  Can't get it to seat the final 1/8", pretty sure it's not engaging onto 1/4" hex oil pump shaft.  Can't figure out a way to stop oil pump shaft from sagging down and preventing distributor shaft from catching.  I already turned crankshaft both ways while pushing down on rotor shaft.  I wonder if a swab of grease will hold oil shaft in place.  Any ideas, other than dropping oil pan?

Dropping the oil pan won't help, the oil pump is not in the pan on a Y-Block.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I have a TSP distributor it requires many more attempts than my stock Ford.  It eventually goes in but I have to keep trying to stab it, until the sun, moon and oil pump drive are aligned.  I line it up so it rotates into place as it goes into the block.  My Ford dist is much easier to "drop" in.   I would try it a few more times and try to judge how to align the rotor as you drop it in.  The rotor has to point a bit before it's final resting place.  I slightly turn the rotor as I'm dropping it.  

i want to say ive heard of using an oring or some kind of homemade washer to hold upward tension slightly to allow the drive to stay in distributor while lowering. It might get some hate but personally id probably superglue the oil pump drive into the distributor. a little dot on outside when shafts pushed in should give a little retention while easily cracking free. do not get glue inside the socket just a little dot on outside. works great for electrical connectors as well. 
Seth 

The drive is supposed to seat in the oil pump at all time and has a device to hold it in there.  And how do you keep it straight so it goes into the oil pump.  





54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Dick.  You said the distributor was recently rebuilt.  Was the lower distributor gear removed when that rebuild took place and if so, was the gear put back on in the correct location?  There is a measurement specification for that.  Being too low would keep the distributor from seating at the top of the block.

By design, the oil pump drive shaft has a washer on it located just above the oil pump and that washer is to help keep the shaft in place when the distributor is not in the engine.  The oil drive shaft has a pointed end and that should be pointing towards the top of the engine when installed.  The chamfer or point on that shaft will help to guide it into the distributor as the distributor is lowered into place.  There is a similar chamfer on the bottom of the distributor.  It’s not unusual to have to rotate the engine forward and/or backwards to facilitate aligning the distributor with the oil pump drive.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I beat the challenge last night.  I was about to drop the oil pump and attack it from below, but decided to fight it from above one more time.  I gave it 3 more tries and it slipped in easily on the last try.  I was literally just about to give up.  I had set TDC compression/power on crank, and dist rotor ended up pointing to #3 cylinder.  I don't care, I don't want to take it out again.

I did remove the gear, but installed it in same orientation.  I wish I had a borescope to look at intermediate shaft and check if washer is present, but I been spending too much money lately to justify it.  If it's missing then I was lucky the chamfer was big enough to allow engagement.  If it's present, I wonder how good of a job it actually does on the centering.

Anyway, thanks for help.  The important thing is I'm still having fun.  Now I can jump onto next thing.

The washer is there to keep the shaft from pulling out when you pull the distributor. It goes in the oil pump before assembly.

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I had a 350 that was TERRIBLE for lining up a distributor...you do the same thing 10 or 100 times but it eventually would fall into place.  It was infuriating.  The last time I got it to drop, I was only getting about 22* total timing and I couldn't advance it any further because the vacuum canister would hit the intake...I had to move each plug over one spot and spin it back 45 degrees to get it to 36 or whatever it was because there was no way I was taking it out again.