Distributer removal help
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New User
Joined: Jul 2017
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Distributer removal help
I am tearing down my 1978 f100 with a 351m. I have been trying to pull the distributer out and it wont budge. I have completely taken out the clamp that holds it in. I tried to twist it, pull it, tap it with a mallet. I will be doing a cam and timing set during the build. Will the distributer will be easier to remove when the timing chain, gears and cam are removed? It almost seems like the distributer shaft would be reachable once the timing cover is removed.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,311
Likes: 31
From: Nevada
Gotta take'er to dinner....
Be easy with'er, unless your tearing apart the motor anyhow..... I would take a breaker bar and socket to the harmonic balancer bolt and rock the crank forward or backward, try to remove again and repeat until she pops out.....
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New User
Joined: Jul 2017
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So I do not have the motor set to TDC, not sure if that is going to make a difference. The housing (metal shaft going into block) does not roatate at all, it will not budge or wiggle. I am sure rotor turns as it ran last weekend when I pulled it off the trailer. I am tearing this motor down almost completely. new cam and timing set, heads redone, intake, carb and ignition. If its easier to remove the distributer when the timing cover is off Ill just wait and do that. Does the distributer shaft go through the timing case?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,311
Likes: 31
From: Nevada
magic touch
TDC is irrelevant for removal, but important for your timing setup when you get your new one in. These things can act like they are setting up in a bag of QuickCrete after a rain storm.....
Your Dizzy gear meshes with the cam gear as seen above and then sits on top of the oil pump shaft for a happy meeting of materials
, typically it just needs to be rotated to slip out of a gear groove, I have had to take a socket to the big pulley (harmonic balancer) and turn the engine a few inches to help line things up a bit better. If your motor was running a few days ago, it just needs to turn a little and some gentle pulls up and at angles and it will pop right out..... 
Your Dizzy gear meshes with the cam gear as seen above and then sits on top of the oil pump shaft for a happy meeting of materials
, typically it just needs to be rotated to slip out of a gear groove, I have had to take a socket to the big pulley (harmonic balancer) and turn the engine a few inches to help line things up a bit better. If your motor was running a few days ago, it just needs to turn a little and some gentle pulls up and at angles and it will pop right out.....
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
May need to use some heat. Or soak with penetrating fluid. They can be a real bear sometimes to remove, the housing gets corroded and welds itself in.
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Sounds like the dizzy housing is seized to the block due to corrosion. Try some penetrating oil at the base. Also you might be able to get a wrench to grip the dizzy housing, and then hammer on the wrench. Use lots of quick short light taps with a fairly heavy hammer, in order to mimic an impact wrench, but you need to be careful to not bend or tweak the housing, as it's probably aluminum.
I've only dealt with small blocks, but if the housing will come free from the block, then the dizzy should just pull right out, as the shaft will turn a few degrees as the gears 'walk' apart. I like to mark that position, in addition to where the rotor was pointing before pulling it up any.
I've only dealt with small blocks, but if the housing will come free from the block, then the dizzy should just pull right out, as the shaft will turn a few degrees as the gears 'walk' apart. I like to mark that position, in addition to where the rotor was pointing before pulling it up any.
Moderator & parts slinger
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: S/W Missouri, Polk county
Pb blaster, ck out "Mouse milk" I am serious.
Get a chain wrench wrap the bottom metal part of the dizzy body, twisting pressure, tap twisting pressure TAP TAP. SMACK.
2 #4 flat tips and pry like heck. and TAP TAP TAP at the same time. Try going both directions, tap tap smack, let it soak more. You will probably end up destroying the bottom plastic part.
Get a chain wrench wrap the bottom metal part of the dizzy body, twisting pressure, tap twisting pressure TAP TAP. SMACK.
2 #4 flat tips and pry like heck. and TAP TAP TAP at the same time. Try going both directions, tap tap smack, let it soak more. You will probably end up destroying the bottom plastic part.
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,132
Likes: 217
From: W (BY GOD) V
The distributor seal (12143) becomes hardened over the years. That is what is holding it.
Penetrating oil allowed to set and trying to rotate the housing until it frees itself enough to pull out.
If not, only the nuclear option is left...
Penetrating oil allowed to set and trying to rotate the housing until it frees itself enough to pull out.
If not, only the nuclear option is left...
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 855
Likes: 56
From: Des Moines, Washington
You'll probably want to read this thread before things go awry.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16436900
Michael
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16436900
Michael
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 14,375
Likes: 604
From: evansville in
A friend of mine had one of these so stuck he chained it to an engine hoist. The front of the truck hung in the air for 3 days by the distributor. On the 4 th day the hoist only had the distributor. the truck was back on its front wheels.