y block distributor question

[mbjones]

looking for some advice on a 292 distributor , have just had the distributor rebuilt on my 1961 sunliner , when i removed it , it had a hard rubber tapered washer between distributor base and the block , have read a lot in different y block groups ,that say to mount the distributor directly to the block , no washer or gasket , .what is the purpose of the tapered seal , and yes or no to fitting it when i reinstall the distributor .
thanks mike

 

[1930artdeco]

I did not have one when I installed mine and I don't think the parts drawing shows one. It would be there for keeping oil in.

Mike

 

[paul2748]

No seal of any kind on a YBlock distributor where it goes into the block

 

[mbjones]

thats what i was thinking , although rock auto shows one in their parts catalog , is about 3/16 thick which would raise the distributor drive gear up by the same amount .

 

[paul2748]

If the distributor is raised up, it could result in less contact by the distributor gear with the gear on the cam. This could result in breakage of either the distributor gear or the cam gear.

thats what i was thinking , although rock auto shows one in their parts catalog , is about 3/16 thick which would raise the distributor drive gear up by the same amount .

 

[dmsfrr]

mbjones, If the distributor housing is sitting too high in the block the rotation of the cam will pull the shaft down farther than it can go. In addition to the gears not meshing as intended this can also damage the upper shaft bushing and may pull the centrifugal timing advance hardware down against the inside of the distributor housing, grinding out the aluminum. The driven gear on the distributor must contact the machined surface for it inside the block to prevent that. (photo 3, yellow arrow)

There are distributor housings (not Y-block?) with an O-ring groove in the lower part of the housing but it's located so it fits down inside the block, not on top of the opening in the block.

You can coat the lower portion of the distributor housing & the opening for it in the block with motor oil or assembly lube to help prevent galvanic corrosion between the dissimilar metals.

https://www.ctci.org/gilsgarage/distributor-installation/
.

 

[mbjones]

thanks for that , makes perfect sense to me now .

 

[Gene F]

Are you confident that you got YOUR distributor back? Did you ask your rebuilder for advice? Do you think when you pulled your distributor it was original to the car when it left the Ford factory in 1961?