[novawagonman]

what am I doing wrong I set the stroke at TDC, put the new dist. in goes in fine but when I time it, my vac can is too close to the manifold and hits it.

what up with that?

 

[TomM]

Move your plug wires around one or two holes to get it where you need it. Looking at the top of the distro, #1 should be about 4 o'clock.

T,

 

[nova656567]

Or just remove/re-stab the distributor. Pull distributor and move it a couple of teeth from where you have it. You will probably need to adjust the pump drive slightly.

You can make number one where ever you want. Just needs to have the right firing pattern, and start with #1 wire with #1 TDC.

 

[Paul Wright]

The distributor and cam gear are helical (spiral) so the shaft rotates a bit as they mesh. You usually have to compensated when you drop it in for this slight rotation.
Also make sure you are on Compression TDC and not Exhaust TDC. Then move the balancer to 10 degrees BTDC and install the distributor.
This puts it closer to actual firing position and less twisting to dial it in.
If it doesn't go down, you may have to line up the oil pump drive with a long handle flat blade screwdriver.

We have a complete distributor install thread in Best of Powertrain archive. Used to have pictures but they somehow disappeared.