67ratrag

My uh, friend, bought a mallory unilite dist. with tach drive for my, er, his BB. The old gear was removed for the brass one since this engine has a roller cam in it. I have done this exact thing several times, but somehow-with no alcohol involved, I started the new retaining spring into the gear without first drilling out the other side so the spring would be flush when fully inserted. Now it sits 1/8" out of the hole and I either need to remove it, or cut off the excess and install. Can I just cut it off, or if it needs to be removed, drilled, and a new spring installed, how do I go about removing the 90% installed spring w/o ruining the brass gear?

magicv8

If you are asking about the roll pin that retains the drive gear, use a drift to drive it out and grind the end off. If not, I could use a better description of the problem, because it sounds like you have a gear with a blind cross hole. If that is the case, grind or cut off the excess for a permanent installation - or - drill a smaller diameter hole from the other side and drive it out - or - grab the end with a pair of vise grips and pull.


[Modified by magicv8, 9:37 PM 1/8/2002]

67ratrag

Cannot get enough hold with vice grips, and drilling a hole to punch it back out would cause the hole to be too big to reuse after I drove out the old pin. I'm afraid the hole would be off center, so I would have to drill more, etc., until the hole would be larger than called for and not cause the pin to be friction held on that side. I guess the real question here is- Can I just cut the pin off and be done with it? Will this come back to haunt me if I do this?

magicv8

Until the shaft needs to be replaced (at a future time), cutting off is fine. It sounds like the pin is in a blind hole. Cutting it flush will allow the distributor to function.

But first - If the pin is a roll pin, you might try inserting a small tap in the hole and threading it in far enough to pull the tap (and the roll pin) with the vise grips. A tap is a brittle object, and small ones break easily, so don't force it in too far, and dont bend it while pulling. If you do break it off, all you have lost is a small tap, because you can grind it fush with the pin.

Plasticman

Frankly, I would not cut off the end sticking out, unless I was sure that some of the pin was engaged in the opposite side of the gear (you do not want the pin supported on only one side of the gear).

Another option (if it is a roll pin), is to drill through the center of the exposed end with a small diameter drill bit. That would essentially center the hole when it came out the opposite side for a larger 1/8" bit. Then use a punch and knock out the pin, then complete the hole with the correct diameter drill bit so that the pin engages both sides of the gear.

67ratrag

That's the answer I was looking for! Thanks.