I have had great success with a Co2 fire extinguisher , aim at the area where the clamp holds the  unit to the block and shoot away the co2 gas will shrink the metal and it will come out very easy.

Thanks guys!! it is loose.

John

Since the engine is out, you can put a pipe wrench on the bottom of the housing and try twisting it as you tap.  You'll put some teeth marks in the housing, but it should not break anything.  Don't tap on the vacuum advance, you'll end up breaking the housing or advance, and still won't have the distributor loose.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Thanks for all of the inputs.  It's had a couple of days of penetrating oil and I have been tapping on the housing with a plastic hammer to try and break it loose. I'll start tapping lightly on the shaft to see if that helps.  The engine is a 292/312 depending on what I find when I pull the pan -- the block is right. It is out of the truck as I am installing new suspension systems front and rear. The word "WHEN" is ominous.  I could apply some heat around the hole in the block but I think that will be a last resort.

I'm still looking for a scrap block and head to use to work out clearance problems with the new steering and exhaust.  If anyone has one in North Texas that I could buy, borrow, rent, please let me know.

Thanks for your help,

John Scoggan

Dallas, TX 

And when you get it out put a small amount of anti-seeze on it so it will not stick again. Notice I said "when"

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

Tap tap tap (gently) at intervals with rubber hammer and block of wood on the shaft to encourage the penetrating fluid to do its job. Remember that along with the distributor you may also be trying to entice the release from the oil pump drive shaft (depending on what engine you're working on--you didn't mention) which may be the source of a bit of additional friction.

One other suggestion is repeated application of penetrating fluid and try removing it after the motor is hot if its still a runnung motor.This distributor thing is very common when the dist. hasn't been touched in many years.

  

Successive applications of "PB Blaster" or other penetrating fluid - and wait

Hold your mouth right (Banjo playing technique)

Application of heat (steer clear of too much heat) and cold (ice) is sometimes helpful

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Trying to remove the distributor but it won't budge.  The clamp has been removed.  Don't want to screw something up.  Any hints on how to break this baby loose?

John Scoggan

Dallas, TX