Under Pressure

Supposedly I just need to turn the oil pump a little to get the distro tang to engage...

Disconnected the vacuum line from the distributor advance. Removed the cap w/wires.

Bumped the engine until the rotor points at 90 degrees from the engine axis.

Removed the wires to the coil (red +, black -). Pulled the road draft tube for better access to the distro clamp.

Hmm...comparing photos shows that the original distro sits much lower than the HEI one is sitting.

Measurements: ~3 1/4" from the top of the distro clamp to the distro-driving gear. 5 3/4" from the top of the clamp to the slot in the oil pump.

Turns out the shoulder on the HEI distributor is about an inch too low. Looked at installing the old distributor and whatnot, but after cleaning up the contacts on the old distributor cap, decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

So I spent a good deal of time with a Dremel and ground down the lip on the HEI distributor -- the Dremel was required since I couldn't figure out how to get the thing mounted in a lathe securely.

After trimming it down, I re-installed, and the distro definitely sunk down a little more.

Cranking the engine shows some oil pressure and oil circulation is visible. The engine started -- and then died. Now it won't turn over, but the battery is running low. Time to charge it.