I am finishing up my rebuild and tried to install the dizzy today and it won't go all the way to the block. It is about an 1/8 of inch from it and the o-ring won't seat in the hole. Could my oil pump shaft be too long? it is a FRPP piece!
I ran into the same exact issue with a Melling HV pump and included driveshaft. The retainer is pressed up the shaft and is conical with concave side upwards. Tapping it down is likely to flip it concave downwards and decrease its effectiveness to retain the shaft. I tried tapping it down with a priming tool, but there's no real verification that I didn't push it down too far that it wouldn't somehow pop out of the oil pump while driving. The real solution should be measuring the clearance needed for the distributor, pulling the pump, adjusting the retainer, then recheck fitment to ensure the distributor fits and shaft doesn't pop out.
The old non-hardened driveshaft I pulled out had a cup-like retainer that gave additional clearance for the distributor. I wish Melling used that design.
I am finishing up my rebuild and tried to install the dizzy today and it won't go all the way to the block. It is about an 1/8 of inch from it and the o-ring won't seat in the hole. Could my oil pump shaft be too long? it is a FRPP piece!
Even when adjusting it to fit the dizzy snug, it seems it still lifts a little when pulling the dizzy back out.
My only concern now is when i go to prime the engine. I may prime the engine while it is out of the car, or, put the retainer higher, prime, tap down the retainer then install dizzy.