The Ford Barn

benbuilder · 03-27-2026, 08:03 AM

I got a new project car yesterday.
It’s a 31 tudor. Engine looks clean. Oil looks clean. It went through a bunch of hands before before I got it, but I can’t get it started.
I noticed that when I turned the crank manually, the distributor doesn’t respond as quickly as I would think it should.
If I look at the distributor shaft inside the motor, and turn the crank over, I need to turn the crank from 12 o’clock till about 10:30 before the distributor responds.
If I put a screwdriver on the shaft and turn it inside the body of the block it has minimal play.
So would that mean it’s the camshaft gear or the timing gear?
Thoughts on that please?

03-27-2026, 08:03 AM	#1
benbuilder Senior Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 122	Timing distributer question I got a new project car yesterday. It’s a 31 tudor. Engine looks clean. Oil looks clean. It went through a bunch of hands before before I got it, but I can’t get it started. I noticed that when I turned the crank manually, the distributor doesn’t respond as quickly as I would think it should. If I look at the distributor shaft inside the motor, and turn the crank over, I need to turn the crank from 12 o’clock till about 10:30 before the distributor responds. If I put a screwdriver on the shaft and turn it inside the body of the block it has minimal play. So would that mean it’s the camshaft gear or the timing gear? Thoughts on that please?