Not a new idea but I had an old Buick Distributor sitting on the shelf and had seen this done before and thought Id give it a try. I removed the shaft and cut the casing just above the o-ring Then cut the shaft making it as long as I could. This works amazingly well!
Great little "home-made tool." I made one two years ago. I left the casing intact & welded a piece of 1/2 Allen key to the shaft end. Gives a good surface for the drill chuck.
I did something similar only completly remove the shaft from the housing. Its a bitch to keep it engaged with the oil pump rod. The housing would have taken care of that.
My alternative, just an old distributor shaft for use with no housing. The drum brake spring is hooked into the distributor gear hole so it can't be lost. Doing it with a housing in place is the better way to go. Devon
I Just noticed the 350-4 sticker on my bench in the pictures... I cant seem to throw that thing away LOL
I was getting ready to do the same by using an old distributor. It didn't dawn on me until reading this thread that retaining the portion of dist housing will be of great value :TU:
I installed a locking collar with set screws on top of the shaft where it comes out the modified housing, then pull the shaft out and install the flat thrust washer/ shim to prevent bearing down on the pump shaft and wearing on the pump / oil filter housing.
Thats something I had not thought of... I doubht I'll get a chance to make a collar for mine as its not something I'll be using very much, but you do make a great reminder that you dont need to push too hard... :TU:
I made one for a SBC years ago. I removed the mechanical advance plate, threaded the top end, put a nut onto it so I could turn it with an air ratchet and a socket. I left the distributor drive gear on the end so it would hold the end in the oil pump shaft, but ground off all the teeth on the gear so it wouldn't engage the camshaft. It works really well. I guess I will have to build one for my Buicks now. Later, Randy
I just took the weights off, drilled a hole in the top of the shaft, tapped it, screwed a bolt in and cut the head off of it..
believe it or not the distributor shaft out of # 1 sons old chevette fits very nicely over the oil pump shaft works well . Just a thought. later bake
