So things went bad yesterday.  I have a a 292 that at some point was rebuilt, was running great until yesterday. 
    I am driving along, not goosing it or anything just, cruising.  Halfway up a hill there is a pop and it goes dead.  In fact I didn't know the engine died at first i thought it popped out of gear.   Tried to turn it over, it turned over fine then it but would not start.  I'll skip to the chase rather than explain all other troubleshooting.     It turns out that the distributor shaft was no longer spinning when as I turned the engine over.  It also seems the that housing spun a bit and dented the firewall with the advance canister.   Two and half hours later I am on my way home in a tow truck.  I have not gotten into it much, but here are the facts.

1. The engine turns over,
2. I pulled the valve covers, (understanding that if i broke the timing chain or cam, the valves were already done for from trying to start it on the side of the road.)  and turned it over, all of the valves move. that says to me that it isnt the timing chain and if i broke the cam it is all the way at the end?
3.  The distributor shaft would turn by hand, but only the normal amount, i guess it is the amount the mechanical advance plates allow.  
4.  the distributor did not want to come out on the side of the road, i could not rotate the housing or pull it out.    by the time i got it home and turned it over to check the valves i could turn the housing just a little bit.  

So it seems like I broke it pretty bad.   I would like to try to get the distibutor as there will clearly be evidence of what happened either by a stripped gear, or something broken near the oil pump spade part.   Then with a flashlight i guess i could see if the gear on the camshaft is turning or not, or if it is stripped or whatever.     I know in many many ways the dammage is done and I will deal with it, however if there are thoughts or advice I would love to hear it.   I would hate to cause more dammage while pulling the distributor out, but i am thinking that still has to be step one.   I dont recall but i dont think there will be anything to be learned by pulling the intake a valley cover, there is no access to see the distributor and cam gear ...right?  she had been runnin like a top...

You can see a portion of the distributor shaft and cam gear with the valley removed.
Like you said, at this point the damage is done, so I don't think you can hurt anything by getting the distributor out to see what has happened.  You just need to dig in and investigate.



Lawrenceville, GA

I'm thinking the dizzy seized, then broke the shaft. That's why it turned to the firewall. You'd still be able to turn the advance plate mechanism. But it has to come out as Charlie said so cross your fingers,and hope it was the in the housing, and the oil pump drive is ok. It's not uncommon to have a problem pulling the dizzy if it's been a while since its been out.

Good luck.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Thanks fellas.  I will try to get into it tonight.  If the distributor wont come out, I guess i ll pull the intake to see if that reveals anything.   Fingers are always crossed.

You mentioned an oil pump spade. Do you know if the oil pump drive is a hex shaft or is it a tang drive, has like a screwdriver like blade at each end? The word spade makes me think it might be a 239 or 256.

  Dennis in Lititz PA

I am sure the block is a 292, and I am sure the distributor is a 57....but I do not recall what type that has

so...well ... i am confused.    I got the distributor out, I had to pull off the advance cam and spin it out.   The gear is still pinned on it.    The shaft seems a little bent...but not crazy, but it will not spin.   The cam gear is still spinning as it should when i turn the car over.  I cannot make it move by poking at it with a screw driver, it does not seem to spin freely,or want to move side to side.  The teeth on both the distributor and cam gears seem just fine.   
   it seems to me that something should be really broken because the distributor will not spin....however the motor turned over as if nothing were wrong at all with the non spinning distributor engaged or i assume it.    However, I had to spin the distributor out, further suggesting that the cam gear is fine/not spinning free.      ... maybe it is.   I had a friend suggest, that the dist gear would likely shear the pin before the cam broke....that seems like wishful thinking.    is there anything to do but shrug my shoulders and get a new distributor and see what happens?

I think you got lucky. The shaft/bushing (bearing) froze, turned it out of time till it quit running, and then either broke, locked up whatever. Someone with more knowledge than me will have to speculate about the oil drive hex rod, but I'll bet it's ok, too.

The spiral cut on the gear means it always rotates going in or out. Likewise getting the hex shaft started. One of the reasons it's so easy to be a tooth off when replacing the dizzy. The cam gear is pretty tough, I'd be surprised if you hurt it.

The tooth count on the gear will tell you if it a 239/256, but if it's a hex into the dizzy, I think it's a 272/292/312.

Someone will chime in with the cost effective replacement distributor, or run a search. It's on here.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Check out the hole in the base of the distributor shaft. If it froze it may have twisted the drive rod and damaged either the shaft of the rod. I would also pull the oil pump and check the rod and its socket in the pump. I wouldn't be surprised If one end or the other is damaged. When you have the distributor cap off for tune ups or whatever under the rotor in the top of the shaft there should be a little fiber pad. Put a few drops of oil on it. Chuck


Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

first step is remove the oil pump,most liklet some thing went threw it. it is easey to remove, andeasey to remove the cover of the pump.  do not replace the dist untill you find the cause,as it is the engine will most likley be ok as it stoped but rolling over with no dist means no oil flow