1969 383 distributor drive not aligned

[68fourdoorSat]

Hello Everyone. I could use the opinion of others that have had the 383 engines apart.
I removed the distributor because it had what looked like rusty radiator water and fine metal
Dust in it. I am replacing it with a new point distributor.
I found the drive gear alignment is not centerline. More like 10 and 4 o’clock.
I did rotate the engine to get TDC on the balancer and the rotor to #1.
My question: If I pull the drive up and turn it one tooth on the cam, will it really line up straight, or will it end up at let’s say 8 and 2 o’clock?
I’m hesitating to try it due to past “snowball” experiences.
The engine ran fine, but seemed low on power for a 383 4barrel, compared to my 318 Dart.

 

[beanhead]

The gear slot doesn't have to be perfectly parallel, as long as the tower the rotor points at is wired to #1. The factory put them that way for standardization and to make room for the vacuum canister, but in realty you can put the drive and distributor into any position that suits your setup as long as the tower the rotor ends up pointing at is #1, and then wire the others according to the firing order.

 

[dadeo]

Agree with beanhead. You're also right, 1 tooth over prob will be 8-2 o'clockish. Tells me timing chain is loose or cam is ground or installed retarted.
Andy

 

[turbine68rt]

Best way to find out, move it one tooth ccw and see if it does in fact line up better. It can always be reinstalled the way you have it now if you're not happy with the results.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

You can also pull the shaft out and rotate the oil pump a little so that it will drop into a different place.

 

[Mr. Mike]

Just be aware the pump drive shaft may be scored from the bushing and not want to come out easily.

 

[68fourdoorSat]

Many thanks to all for your experience and this site to share it on.
I bought a new cardone point distributor and I was hesitant to install it. The distributor, 84-3817, looks great. It seems the “clock” position of the vac advance is slightly different if I want to align the rotor to the factory reference position to #1.
Thanks again for the advice about the drive slot being more of a assembly reference.

 

[turbine68rt]

Many thanks to all for your experience and this site to share it on.
I bought a new cardone point distributor and I was hesitant to install it. The distributor, 84-3817, looks great. It seems the “clock” position of the vac advance is slightly different if I want to align the rotor to the factory reference position to #1.
Thanks again for the advice about the drive slot being more of a assembly reference.

Were you able to get the slot more parallel with the cam rotating it one tooth?

 

[Kelly Seely]

My question is .. why would you want to put points back in ? The have great ready to run distributors and the points headache would be gone. If it’s because you want the stock appearance you can also use stock caps on the dist. ‍ Just wondering I got rid of my points asap .