Hi all! smile.gif Got a problem installing my distributor into my SBC 400. I have the oil pump drive properly turned to meet up with the dist's gear shaft & pin locator to mate up to the drive shaft but I cant get the distributor to drop completely in; I have a 1/4" gap at the bottom of my dist to the manifold and I have checked it with another factory dist & the results are the same. My oil pump is a Melling M55HV, Melling IS-55E drive shaft...What Am I doing wrong? :confused:

Look at the teeth on the gear on the end of the dist shaft. They are angled and that means when they start to slide in place on the oil pump the dist shaft is going to seat in a different position than when first lined up. You have to turn the oil pump slot ahead of the dist shaft just enough so the dist shaft matches it after the gears slide together...

Is the IS55E shaft seated all the way? It should snap over the oil pump shaft.

E,
Hold the distributor down as hard as you can by hand and then bump the starter. It will drop in. The oil pump shaft just isn't quite lined up right. You can try fidddling with the shaft with a screwdriver, but I just bump it and it falls in.