Engine: Installing a two piece distributor

[52-fan]

I am trying to replace the one piece distributor that came in my 259 with a 52 correct distributor that will fit into the firewall recess. The body of the distributor is hitting the firewall above the recess before I can get the unit to drop in. Am I missing something or do the base and top have to be installed separately? The shop manual is not clear on this point.

[BRUCESTUDE]

With the cap off it should drop in with a little maneuvering; the lower portion is attached with a roll or solid pin (peened) in place before installation.

[doofus]

Howard try it bottom half first, then the upper. its much shorter that way. Brucestude it's a 2 piece dist. it separates into 2 seperate parts, no need to mess with that hard a$$ pin. Luck Doofus

[52-fan]

Howard try it bottom half first, then the upper. its much shorter that way. Brucestude it's a 2 piece dist. it separates into 2 seperate parts, no need to mess with that hard a$$ pin. Luck Doofus

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to make extra work if there was a trick I was missing.

[52-fan]

Separating the base from the top made a huge difference. I see that the tang in the shaft is offset, like the Champion engines, so the top can be removed and replaced without disturbing the timing. Good to know.
I did discover that there are differences in the piece that holds down the distributor. I had to grind the slot on the bottom one to make it work with the earlier distributor.
The darker one was with the two piece and the bare one was on the one piece distributor in the car. I ground the slot in the bare one closer to the edge with a burr in my motor tool. No picture of that. Once it fit I didn't want to remove it.

[BRUCESTUDE]

Howard try it bottom half first, then the upper. its much shorter that way. Brucestude it's a 2 piece dist. it separates into 2 seperate parts, no need to mess with that hard a$$ pin. Luck Doofus

Ahhhh..my bad!

[doofus]

Great, now i have to go out to the shop and check the dozen or so hanging on a wire under the stairs to see if they are all the same! Luck Doofus