alright i just put in a new manifold and pertronix conversion. everything is lined up correctly according to the marks i made but the distributor will not go all the way in. the motor has not been turned over, whats the deal.
thanks for any help, allen

If you just crank the motor over twice (rotor turns once) it should drop in. For more info check the 20th post in:
http://www.camaros.net/forum/Forum1/HTML/004600.html

I wrote my method of how to install a distributer from scratch.

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-ibjoe
now: '73 LT1; '79 Z28
then: '67 coupe; '88 IROC; '95 Z28

thats the same problem i have been having, ill check that post too!

nate

ok i read that and was preparing to crank the engine over but lo and behold the damn thing wont turn over. everything works on the car but the starter for some reason. is there some little secret i am missing here. the car ran before i took the dist. out! whats the deal now,it seems that for every one thing that goes right on this project 4 things go wrong. i cant take it anymore, i am going nuts!

The distributor is driven by the cam. The bottom of the distributor engages a keyway on the oil pump shaft to drive the oil pump. The distributor won't fully engage unless you align the oil pump shaft with the distributor shaft.

You can reach through the intake manifold with a long screw driver and turn the oil pump shaft. Place it where the distributor shaft will be when it is installed. Remember since the cam gear is helical the distributor gear will turn slightly as it is engaged.

Yes you are going nuts,I have been working on cars professionally for a long time and I've gone crazy.Welcome to the mental ward!....My advice,slow down,think about what you've done previously,to the car.Is the battery dead,have you checked voltage?If you think things out,and fully understand what you are doing it gets alot easier.I know how you are feeling,I remember the first engine I built(68 302!)had a hell of a time with the distributor.Made mistake after mistake,because I wanted sooo bad to hear it run.If I would have slowed down,I would of heard it run 2 hours earlier than I did.The best thing about all this,I've learned my lessons the hard way(I've screwed up just about everything)lived and learned.Now,this stuff is easy.It gets easier,you just need to sleep on it.

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68 z28 ,68 rs 327 ,73 454 vette, 2 goofy kids

i am just going to let it go for a couple of days and ponder on all the advise i have gotten, the battery is new and everything else is getting power. my best guess now is that either the silanoid went out on the starter or the starter has a bad spot . i will figure it out later. but like the guy just said i want it to run so bad!

I know how you feel. I turned the engine over without the starter and dropped the distributor right in, using a breaker bar and 5/8 nut on the balancer bolt. Then my starter wouldn't crank. I don't know what happened, I was getting ONE click, then nothing.

After about an hour, I checked the connections on my starter, and the purple (inside on the solenoid) wire was loose. i tightened it, and bingo! My first motor came to life. Might want to look at those connections, they vibrate a lot and come loose often.

well everything is alright now! i turned the motor over by hand and the dist. popped right in and after a few more cranks i got the starter out of its dead spot. things are going well on the project once again. thanx for all the help fellows!