Reply to "distributor gear lubrification?"

i've found that an undersized distributor housing or enlarged distributor hole in the block will allow the housing to cock to one side when the hold down clamp is tightened, causing the distributor shaft to bind in the pilot hole down in the block and effectively locking up the dizzy shaft

as George describes i did a mock-up with a bare block on a stand and 2 different distributors. upon finding that the shaft was bound up i progressively disassembled a stock points distributor looking for the culprit, i ended up with a bare housing and bare shaft that wouldn't turn with the hold down clamp tight

prior to disassembly, without the hold own clamp both distributors turned free and showed up/down oil clearance to the block ledge but when i BARELY snugged down on the clamp bolt the shaft wouldn't turn. then i loosened the clamp, removed the shaft from the housing still in the block and re-snugged the clamp. the shaft would not drop back in all the way, it stopped at the ledge in the block for the pilot hole that the bottom of the shaft rides in.

then i loosened the clamp and the shaft dropped right in

this finding is in addition to checking the installed gear height on ANY distributor, absolutely do not trust that the gear is set correctly. replacement gears used to be sold with a 'through hole' supposedely in the right place, now they are sold with only one side drilled in the totally wrong place or none at all

bottom line is that a bound up shaft for whatever reason will cause enough resistance to wear down a distributor gear AND the cam drive gear very quickly