1978 Ford F-150

Alright, I've had it up to my eyes with this distributor. It's the 351m/400 engine. The distributor is refusing to drop all the way in. I'm starting to wonder if it's for a 460. What's the best way to tell if I have the right one? I'm about to rip my hair out. I've tried for hours on end weekend after weekend to get this thing in with no success. Any kind of help would be great. Thanks.
~JD~

How much of a gap is there?

Have you compared it to the old one/

For the dist to be flush I have about another 1/4 inch to go. It is the dist that came with the truck when I bought it so I don't actually know if it's the right one. I messed with it for a little bit today but it still doesn't want to go down any further. Is there a word for 'ready to rip my hair out?' :banghead: If so, that's what I'm felling right about...last month. Thanks for your help.

I looked up the distributor drive gears for the 6.6 and 460 engines, the specifications for the drive gears are exactly the same for both engines so that leaves us with shaft length, something is bent, or something is getting in the way.

I'm assuming that "It is the dist that came with the truck when I bought it..." means that truck wasn't running when you bought it, what I would do is take the distributor to your local Ford Dealer or a Ford only repair shop and have them look up the part number on it and verify that it is the correct one for your engine. I'm guessing that you have the wrong distributor and it's shaft length is 1/4 inch longer than the one for the 6.6 liter.

Sweet! I will do that. Thanks for the info. Where did you find that info at? I've been looking for that kind of stuff for a long time with no luck. That's why I figured I should ask the fine mechanics here for info. Again, thanks.

I think I went to Autozone.com and looked up the distributor for the 6.6 engine, it brings up a parts list, then click on the link for the drive gear, then it gives the specifications, then repeat the search for the 460.