How To Rebuild Your Ford V-8 351C-351M-400-429-460.pdf - Index of

Supporting backside of gear to drive shaft down through gear with piece of old driveshaft.
Soft jaws of this vise won't damage the gear. Distributor housing will support load
required to remove collar. It's a relatively loose fit.
Long skinny punch being used to remove
bottom distributor-shaft bushing. Support
housing base and leave room for bushing as
it is driven out.
sleeve which accepts the armature rather
than the cam used for operating a set of
points. The remainder of the teardown is
the same for both types.
Disassembly From the Baseplate Down-
You can rernove the main distributor
shaft at this point, but I've shown removing
the centrifugal-advance weights
and springs first. Before you remove the
spri~gs, weights or cam or sleeve, mark
them so you'll have a reference for reinstalling
them in their original positions. A
dab of light-colored paint on one spring
and its hvo attachirzg points and one of
the weights arzd the pirz it fits will do the
job. The cam or sleeve has two differentlength
notches at the edge of its plate to
limit maximum centrifugal advance. The
notch with the correct advance is located
over the tab which is fitted with a Hypalon
sleeve. Put a dab of paint at the edge of
this slot. You have to be careful not to
rernove the paint while you're cleaning
the parts.
Cam, Spring and Weight Removal-When
unhooking the centrifugal-advance return
springs. stretch each of them only far
enough to lift them off their pins. The
cam or sleeve can be removed after you
have the springs off. Remove the retainer
from the cam or sleeve center. Lift out
the lubricating wick. Use small needlenose
pliers to lift one end of the spring
out of its groove and. a screwdriver to
keep it from slipping back in while you
lift the other end out. After removing the
retainer, lift the cam or sleeve off the
shaft. Don't lose the thrust washer that's
located directly under it.
Now for the weights. If retained with
C-clips, pop them off and remove the
weights. If plastic clips are used, don't
attempt to remove them. They look like
flat washers with fluted IDS, or fingers,
on their inside diameters. Ford dealers
don't stock them. If you remove them
they'll break and you won't be able to
replace them. If this sounds like bad news
to you, it shouldn't. Centrifugal-pivot
wear is not a problern. When they do
wear the effect is minimal. Just make sure
the weights pivot freely.
DistributorShaft Removal-We're to the
state of disassembly where all distributors
are the same. Remove the gear and collar.
Back up the gear hub-not the teeth-with
the jaws of a vise or something that will
clear the roll pin as it is being driven out.
Use a 118-inch-diameter pin punch, or a
drift punch no larger than 118 inch. 314
inch from its end. Remove the pin fron~
the collar.
Press or Drive the Gear and Collar Off-If
you don't have a press, you'll have to use
some less-sophisticated means to remove
it. Regardless of which method you use,
back up the gear with something fairly
substantial. Two parallel steel plates will
do if you have a press or slightly open
vise jaws will work. Suspend the distributor
upside-down by supporting it squarely
on the backside of the gear. Don't press
or drive directly on the end of the shaft.
Use a short section of your old oil-pump
shaft inserted in the end of the shaft. As
the shaft end nears the gear, be ready to
catch the distributor housing.
Remove the Bushingls-If your distributor
has the short lower bushing, you'll need a
3-112-inch-long, 318-inch-diameter punch
to knock it out the bottom of the housing.
Support the housing on its base and over
a hole or slot so the bushing will clear as
it is being driven out.
I
I
R BUSHING
1 1
Top bushing is in tight, so a support inside
housing is needed to avoid housing
damage. A 3/4-inch deep socket can be
used for the support. You'll need at least a
1/2-inch punch to catch the bottom lip of
the bushing.