distributor slop

had a timing light on my 226 and was noticing the timing bouincing around somewhat (with the advance disconnected). Started looking and it seems that there is slop in the mesh of the distributor splines and the oil pump, so that you can actually get a little wiggle out of the rotor. That would definitely cause some inconsistent firing. Anybody know of a way to "tighten up" the splines? I figure it is probably worn on both the distributor and the pump, even though I just had the pump rebuilt- many years of use can do that. Is it possible to somehow knurl the teeth on the distributor, or is there some sort of "die" for the splines? THANKS, and might want to check yours too!

You could get a less worn distributor or have the splines electroplated with brass or some other metal or if the internal splines are worn in the oil pump shaft, change the pump or shaft or shim the distributor up (out) some to place the splines in a different position. Also, sometimes the hole in the breaker plate where the vacuum advance shaft connects gets worn or the little shaft from the vacuum advance diaphragm gets worn or both and that allows the breaker plate to shift back and forth giving eratic timing. Also worn distributor shaft bearings or worn breaker plate bearing. There may be slop in the distributor drive gear where it meshes with the cam gear.

Might want to consider installing a crank trigger system or some other system to eliminate the distributor; I plan to go this route.

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