[406MENACES10]

UPDATE- IT WILL BE FINE ONCE I RETREIVE ALL THE METAL PIECES. all that happened was my msd rotor screws came loose, car stalled, cap popped off... and I decided to pull the dizzy and lock it out since I had a chance to try it out...BUT I PUT THE GEAR ON BACKWARDS .
I broke the teeth off by trying to re-install the dizzy (at least I think so).

 

[ericnova]

If that pic is how the gear was on the shaft when you installed.....you have the gear on the shaft upside down.

The long necked end of the gear faces down toward the oil pump and the end of the oil pump drive shaft fits up into it.
Geared end goes up against the wear shims, which are up at the housing lower end

You also need to look very closely at the cam....teeth on it will break just as easily if it is a flat tappet cam.
You may have ruined the cam too.

The distributor gear is the least of your worries at this point.

 

[406MENACES10]

Oh damn you're right I put the gear on upside down. The motor wasn't ran like this, I just tried dropping the distributor back in. NO WONDER IT DIDN'T GO DOWN ALL THE WAY LOL.
It's a Howards Hydraulic Roller 110275-12

 

[406MENACES10]

If that pic is how the gear was on the shaft when you installed.....you have the gear on the shaft upside down.

The long necked end of the gear faces down toward the oil pump and the end of the oil pump drive shaft fits up into it.
Geared end goes up against the wear shims, which are up at the housing lower end

You also need to look very closely at the cam....teeth on it will break just as easily if it is a flat tappet cam.
You may have ruined the cam too.

The distributor gear is the least of your worries at this point.

I wonder if the metal will be sitting right there where I can retrieve it, or if it falls down ? It's a SBC

 

[Chevelle-Guy]

You must tried pretty hard to get that to go in to break teeth. I highly doubt those broken teeth are just hanging around the cam, bet in the pan.

 

[406MENACES10]

You must tried pretty hard to get that to go in to break teeth. I highly doubt those broken teeth are just hanging around the cam, bet in the pan.

Bumped the key that's how it happened. It would fall in place, IF THE GEAR WASNT UPSIDE DOWN! SHOOOOOT . OOPS

 

[onslaught]

you might get lucky if you pull the distributor, take the oil pan plug out and pour some cheap oil down the dizzy hole to hopefully wash the rest of the teeth out.

 

[Boosted Bullet]

I'm usually working alone and have the balancer where I want it, so I turn the oil pump with a long screwdriver until it will drop in. I stopped cranking the engine over to get it to drop a long time ago. Try that when you go to put it back together, and put some cam lube on the gear too.

 

[Turbo TA]

I'm surprise that the bottom gear teeth is not broken instead. I would think that because it was installed backwards that it will hit the cam gear first and break first. I would pour oil in the with a lighter weight oil to get the broken pieces flushed like onslaught recommended. Good luck.

 

[bigblockmark]

If you install a magnetic drain plug, the pieces may go there if you can't get them out. Or maybe an extended magnet down thru the hole to the pan bottom and move it around.

 

[doorracer]

I have never tried to put one on upside down nor measured from both ends but I'm surprised that as good as the factory is at detail they didn't move the pin hole so it couldn't be installed wrong. I also don't see how it broke the teeth off the top side trying to install it like that. The gear profile is the same whether right side up or not. I have never bumped the engine to get it to drop though so I guess that was the main problem.

 

[rschap1]

I have flushed stuff out through drain plug using 3,4,-5 gallons of kerosene.
Pull plug and see if it comes out.
Change oil and filter after a short warm up, then again if all the pieces are found.

 

[406MENACES10]

I appreciate the helpful comments and not calling me stupid etc. I learn from each step.
I know for sure it happened when I bumped the key because I did retreive one piece of the gear already, I stepped back at that point and went to sleep for work.

 

[my69brd]

If it jams, force it
If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway

 

[406MENACES10]

It seems the simplicity of the 75 year old small block Chevy has out smarted this rookie.
Seriously though as for the top of gear being broken instead of the bottom, my thought is that happened because the gear was down past the cam, the dizzy was almost flush with the intake, that's how it appeared that I was on track to drop it in like I had in the past.

 

[Boosted Bullet]

Something I always take note of when changing the gear also is to look which way the gear is oriented. If that makes any sense, the gears are usually drilled on the center of of one of the teeth, and come out on the other side between two of the teeth. Not a huge deal, but if you want the housing and rotor in the exact same place without screwing around and don't want to wonder why it's all different when you're in a hurry, check that shit. I use a transfer punch that has a nice slip fit so I can check the endplay and get the right shims without beating the roll pin in and out too. Maybe someone can post the right clearance because I can't remember, maybe .010/.015? Not a 1/8" like some of the stock crap could be.

 

[406MENACES10]

Something I always take note of when changing the gear also is to look which way the gear is oriented. If that makes any sense, the gears are usually drilled on the center of of one of the teeth, and come out on the other side between two of the teeth. Not a huge deal, but if you want the housing and rotor in the exact same place without screwing around and don't want to wonder why it's all different when you're in a hurry, check that shit. I use a transfer punch that has a nice slip fit so I can check the endplay and get the right shims without beating the roll pin in and out too. Maybe someone can post the right clearance because I can't remember, maybe .010/.015? Not a 1/8" like some of the stock crap could be.

View attachment 372953

I noticed that part about the pin position between the teeth... GOOD POINT.. Is it odd that yesterday while I was paying attention to this minor issue knowing that it could be 180- I didn't even notice that it was flipped upside down. Good thing is my friend junior just loaned me a nice borescope! I just got home

 

[406MENACES10]

Cam gear is fine, don't see the pieces. Time to drain the "errrrlllll" in my hillbilly voice.

 

[ericnova]

Cam gear is fine, don't see the pieces. Time to drain the "errrrlllll" in my hillbilly voice.

Because the gear was upside down, it rested below the cam, and only partially engaged the teeth on the cam.
Because it was upside down and thus the geared section hung too low, below the cam centerline, that is why it busted the teeth on the upper side of the cam gear the way it did.

Because of this fact, you need to rotate the engine backwards far enough to inspect the lower 1/3 of the cam gear teeth you can't see from above.

That is why I said you need to examine the cam gear teeth closely....they will break just as easily as the distributor gear teeth did.....they are the same material.
Because if there is just one nick or burr left behind it will shred any new distributor gear you install.
I've seen it happen in under 20 miles drive time, on up to 500 miles or 1000 miles.
If the cam gear is bad, the cam is junk now.

Go buy a lottery ticket if the cam teeth escaped unscathed....because it is your dang full lucky day.

 

[SMJr]

FYI, Distributor gear to housing clearance is .005 - .008