Well a friend's 360 truck has an internal coolant leak. Probably at the rear of his aluminum manifold and if it's like the leak I had, he'll have to get it welded and machined which will take several days to a couple of weeks.

I have a parts car with a 390 in it, so I was going to let him have the intake manifold to use until his was fixed. (He needs his truck running during the week.)

When I tried to pull the distributor it was stuck. Would not turn, would not move at all. Tried all kinds of pry bars. Nada. Got a small hammer and tapped lightly all around the distributor, tried the pry bars, nada, tapped more aggresssively and tried it again, nada.

Got a long wrecking bar, wedged it between the intake and the distributor and hung off the end. Nada. Took a BIG HAMMER and beat the living crap out of the outside end of the long wrecking bar and lo and behold the cheap, crummy distributor body breaks!

Remove the guts of the distributor, beat the rest of it into small pieces and lifted the intake right off. No problem. Didn't need that stinkin' distributor anyway.

But what's the right way to do this. The distributor probably hadn't moved in about 16 years since car hadn't been registered or licensed for that long.

And what should I do to prevent a distributor I'm installing from being stuck several years from now.

Bob
'66 7 Litre, top loader, 3.25 Traction-lock, Sidewinder Intake, SCJ Exhaust
'88 F150 LWB 4x2, XLT Lariat, 302, 5 speed, 3.08
'99 Ranger, 4x2, 3.0, 5 speed, 3.73 posi

 

Been there, done that! Bob, here are some suggestions from the 67-79 board.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/61_79/5968.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/61_79/6804.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/61_79/7346.html

Barry

 

Make sure that in the beating process you didn't loose your oil pump driveshaft. You should be able to look down the hole and see it.

 

Are you kidding me??? I still haven't gotten the remainder of the distibutor to turn or move. I think it's welded in from at the bottom. :-) I've got at 36 inch pipe wrench that I'm going to try tomorrow before the race; it will probably just peel metal.

The car is just a parts car and the engine does not turn over so it was no real loss. We did get my friend's truck running today and didn't need the intake after all.

Bob
'66 7 Litre, top loader, 3.25 Traction-lock, Sidewinder Intake, SCJ Exhaust
'88 F150 LWB 4x2, XLT Lariat, 302, 5 speed, 3.08
'99 Ranger, 4x2, 3.0, 5 speed, 3.73 posi

 

I got out the car with the 36 inch pipe wrench and the remaining stub of a distributor does turn. Took a couple of tries to get a good bite but it did loosen. No movement up or down yet, probably will have to pound it out from below if I ever want it out.

Bob
'66 7 Litre, top loader, 3.25 Traction-lock, Sidewinder Intake, SCJ Exhaust
'88 F150 LWB 4x2, XLT Lariat, 302, 5 speed, 3.08
'99 Ranger, 4x2, 3.0, 5 speed, 3.73 posi