Wobbly distributor..... or not...?

[LHD_Kid]

Hi everyone, the idiot who knows nothing needs some more advice...
Having sorted out my running problem we are down to sorting the leaking problems...
Rocker cover gasket shot, leaks alot, removed rocker cover today for fitting new gasket , also wanted to see if my dizzy had a metal gear, and what do you know..... it has a metal gear fitted, therefore I guess the dizzy has been replaced at some time in the past.
My question (which I mentioned in another thread) is should there be any play in the distributor?
With the rocker cover off you can clearly see the whole dizzy shaft and gear wobble inside the head if you wobble from the cap area...
Is this ok?
I expect there to be some movement, but how much is excessive?
Any thoughts guys?
Cheers
Chris

[Greg_S]

do you mean the shaft with the gear has alot of play in it or the distributor housing?

[LHD_Kid]

The whole distributor moves quite alot, as one unit...holding the cap part and wobbling means there is quite a movement in the gear end part of the distributor...
It doesn't seem to be held firmly as it goes through the head.

[Jeffer]

Make sure the nut is tightened under the distributor.

[LHD_Kid]

Yes, the nut itself seems tight, but maybe it isn't clamping the distributor housing against the head tight enough... maybe a washer on the bolt might help if it needs clamping tighter, obviously I don't want to over tighten anything or strip any threads... is the bolt captive on the distributor, or is it removeable?
I didnt want to start removing parts if it was normal to be wobbly...
Should I try a washer?

[Jeffer]

Strange, double check if there isn't a wire jammed between the clamp and the cilinderhead.
It should tighten all the way if the bolt is tightened. But when theres a wire or something between it it wouldn't.

Cheers

[LHD_Kid]

Right, I couldn't tighten it further, so I removed the fixing from the underneath, put a small amount of copper grease and replaced it, it then did up fully and there is no play in the distributor any more, at all.....
I am guessing that I will need to double check the timing now, maybe this is why the car sometimes was fin and sometimes was not, it was adjusting its own timing going down the road...!
Thanks for your help
Chris