912 Clusterf@#$k
 

Hi everyone, need some advice please. I just assembled and installed my newly rebuilt 1969 912 motor. I has run reasonably well for approx 40 minutes of run time...Oil light out, no noise, nothing crazy. I take it on it's first road trip approx 12 miles..One block from my house decelerating from about 40 mph I downshift into second gear. The revs go to about 4,000 rpm and then the tach drops and I coast home...The distributor came up out of its housing and bent the hold down plate on it's way out. The distributor gear was up higher than it was supposed to be and as I cranked the engine clockwise, the gear would not turn..I cranked the engine counter clockwise and the dist drive sucked down into it drive hole and started turning...What the hell did I do? What do I do now? Does the third piece have to come off again?

Thank you

Toby

Toby,

A couple of thoughts. Do you have the correct distributor clamp for your application? Porsche and VW used several different clamps. Did you have the fuel pump off when installing the pinion. Next did you install the little shim washer under the distributor pinion. This can be a tricky job and if it falls into the case it can damage other components. Also without this washer the pinion might not be properly aligned with the brass drive gear on the crank. Also did you install the little spring that goes into the top of the pinion and under the distributor drive dog? If you gear lifted out with the engine running there is a good chance it messed up the brass crank gear. If the brass gear looks damaged or the washer is MIA, you'll need to pull the front cover off and search further. Hope this helps.

Bryan