A mysterious piece of metal

[jalberg]

I am pulling apart a 6 cylinder 200ci. I could not get the last bolt loosened from the head, so I decided to take things off from below. After getting the oil pan off I saw the sending unit (all this is brand new to me). Since I have the engine on my handy-dandy engine stand I thought I would turn it over so that I could take the sending unit off standing up straight. As I did this I heard a metallic clanging on the concrete floor and found a six inch (approximately) long six-sided shaft. It is thicker than a normal pencil, but not by much. There are on threads. Both ends are the same shape. I obviously have no idea where it fell out of. Any help.

Thanks

 

[Asa]

that connects the oil pump to the distributor, which is in turn connected to the cam shaft
without it, the oil pump won't pump

don't lose it

look at the bottom of the dizzy and you should see a hex-shaped hole for it to fit in

 

[jalberg]

Thanks, I will keep it in a safe place.

 

[Asa]

also, i would suggest that when you rebuild it, you install dizzy first, then install the oil pump

cause getting it all lined up is a PITA of epic proportions, i've never gotten it completely right

 

[CobraSix]

See, I installed the pump first. It wasn't too hard to line back up if you aren't picky about the wire locations on the dizzy. I installed the pump, installed the dizzy. Cap off. Set TDC/Power stroke on #1. Then I would see where the cap lined up and rotate the cap until I had a post right on top of where the rotor was pointing. That would be my #1 wire and I would just go around the cap from there.

Sure, is my #1 wire on the front of the dizzy? No...but honestly, who cares if my #1 wire is on the front or the side? Still easy to clean up and make neat.

Slade