does the 1 piston have to be at top dead center in order for the distributor to be removed. I've got every thing apart including the hold-down bolt and the clamp and I thought the dist. should slip right out but it does not. The haynes manual said to turn to top dead center. Is this necessary? If not why is it not slipping out?

 

The reason for turning the crank to #1 TDC is so that you can easily reference the dist for insertion.

Mark the position of the plastic tab at the front of the dist on the intake base, turn the crank a little more till the dist rotor points to that plastic tab, lift the dist up about an inch or so (till the rotor stops turning CCW), mark the position of the rotor on the edge of the dist and lift the dist out of the intake base.

On insertion, line up the tab on dist base with the mark on the intake base, line up the rotor with the mark on the side of the dist and lower the dist till fully seated. At that point the rotor should point to the plastic tab at the front of the dist and your timing will be very close to the setting before removal.

If you removed the wires, the dist cap, the hold-down bolt and it's clamp the dist should just lift out. There should be a little friction as the dist gear slids up through the cam gear but no major deal.

 

Try tapping it lightly on the side with a small rubber mallet while pulling up and down on the shaft in a counterclockwise direction - helps if the rotor is still on so you can get a good grip. Also, be sure all electrical connections are unplugged - there's a four cavity plug buried behind it towards the firewall. Just make sure you've got the rotor referenced to something - the block, a point on the manifold, etc. and also reference the position of the housing so that the timing is close when go to start it up. The shaft is going rotate in a counterclockwise direction so reference where the rotor pointing before you start and where it's pointing when it releases from the cam gear. You need to reinstall it in the same position as removed and it's pretty easy to get it out of phase. That's why it's better to remove it with the engine at the #1 firing position - it gives you a decent reference for where it needs to be upon reinstallation. You may also need to turn the oil pump shaft clockwise about a 1/4 of a turn prior to reinstallation in order to get it in correctly. To get your motor at #1, remove a spark plug or two and then turn the engine over with a socket or box wrench on the balancer until the rotor is pointing at the #1 tower on the cap and the timing marks are aligned at TDC.

 

That must be for motors with good compression...

Mine spins over with no spark plugs removed... :rolleyes:

I get the balancer near to TDC, then pop the cap and look at the rotor...My dist body has the wire loom pointing toward a fuel reg screw; I just bump the crank until the rotor is also lined up with the screw, then pull the dist out.

To install, line up wire loom & rotor with the screw & drop in...Allowing for the "twist" of the rotor going in...

Then disconnect ESC wire and re-time...

For a little fun, have a buddy move the dist/cap while you're timing the motor...Watch out for flying wrenches... :D