VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 distributor hold down screw

Junk Yard Dog said the following in a 2004 thread: "The screw, spring and the flat washer that is on the left rear of the manual advance arm is to keep constant tension on the manual advance arm when the spark knob on the instrument panel is pulled out and pushed in. When the spark knob is pulled out, it moves the distributor from its set position to the retard position and then back to its normal advanced position when the spark knob is pushed in again."
My '31 is a basket case. This morning I was looking for that screw the dog mentioned in all my "baskets" and found a shoulder screw that is the right size and thread pattern, and a spring was wired to it to keep the 2 items together. However, this is a slotted screw and not a hex head. Is that correct? Also, shouldn't the distributor drop all the way down in its hole? Mine seems to seat into place properly (the rotor moves slightly as it goes in), but the distributor sits up about 1/4 inch.

That is the correct screw. Yes the distributor should sit down on the plate which should sit on the casting.

Thanks Chipper, any thoughts on why the distributor doesn't drop down onto the casting? There is a large nut and slotted stud just below the distributor. What is it, and does it have anything to do with the distributor? Do I need to loosen it to allow the distributor to drop into place? Sorry to be so dumb, but most of my experience has been with small block V8 chevy engines.

Do not make any adjustments with the screw and nut under the distributor. That screw is what holds the oil pump.

To get the distributor to go all the way in you must rotate the engine so the distributor gear mates with the threaded portion of the camshaft.

The screw in question is actually a Fillister slotted head screw.

When installing the distributor, make sure that your engine is in time with the number one piston on the compression stroke and that the timing pointer is on the 12 degree mark on the flywheel for the initial set. Also, the rotor should be pointing to the number one cyliner on the distributor cap as well.

Do you have a shop manual? If not you might want to invest in one because it will answer many of your questions.

I need a little more help to time this engine guys. Mr Mack said in a 2005 thread: "You gotta have three things together to have the ignition in time.
(1) the flywheel mark in the window
(2) piston #1 at TDC, on the compression stroke(both valves closed).
(3)The rotor pointing at the post for the #1 sparkplug wire."
I have accomplished #1 and #2, but re: #3, the rotor is not pointing at #1 position on the dist. cap. Is there a way to turn the oil pump by hand to line it up with the dist. shaft?

Use a flat blade screwdriver to move the slot in the oil pump. You must put in some windage as the distributor shaft will corkscrew down and aline with the oil pump slot.

It might take a little trial and error to get the oil pump and and slot in the distributor shaft to line up. The major thing to get right is the rotor and distributor cap # 1 position. I always align # 1 with the slot in the distributor. Keep in mind that the rotor will continue to turn until aligned with the pump. You may need to rotate the engine to get them to finally line up. It is not too difficult despite the fact the the GGs will do what they can to mess you up. Then they will laugh their a$$es off.