Distributor will not sit flat after head gasket replacement

TITOB

MEMBER
1998 HONDA CIVIC
1.6L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
250,000 MILES

Removed the distributor to replace the head gasket. The camshaft was never removed from the head; the head block was removed as a unit from the cylinder block. In trying to reinstall the distributor, and when I align the gears, there is a gap of about a 1/16 of an inch between it and the block. If the gears are not aligned, of course the gap is a lot bigger.
I didn’t think that the camshaft could move if it wasn’t touched, I don't want to undo all the work. Am I missing something stupid?

3 Replies

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Good morning,

Can you upload a picture of the distributor?

Roy

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Saturday, September 14th, 2019 AT 7:39 AM

TITOB

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Solved. Update:
Yesterday I went for broke and undid half of my work. It turns out that the camshaft did move about a 1/16 of an inch toward the distributor, and when I pushed it back, the distributor fits well. It’s my first time doing a head gasket, and I didn’t thing possible that the camshaft could move since I didn’t touch any part of that assembly. My assumption was incorrect.
I put the engine back together, started up the car, it worked like a charm, although I did set the distributor on the mark that I scribed previously, when I drove the car for a test dive, I noticed that the timing was way off and I had to retime it.
Thanks.