Distributor shaft angle - in relation to block

[chengny]

Someone calm me down and tell me that this is normal:

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Just dropped in a new motor and after running the plug wires I noticed this. The engine is on the mounts and the truck is level on the jack stands (maybe an inch low on the drivers side). The distributor/rotor spins freely and doesn't wobble. I dropped it in by myself and may have banged it but there are no scratches or chips/cracks.

It maybe completely normal - but I've never noticed this before. Has anyone?

I am going to throw an intake manifold on a junk engine and stab a distributor to see if it's the same.

 

[crazy4offroad]

It's not normal, the whole engine looks low on the driver's side, just looking at the angle of the thermostat housing and carb flange. Is it possible one of the motor mounts is upside down or something? IIRC they are 3-bolt on the block so those cant be upside down. Maybe a mix-up between 6-cylinder vs V-8, or mix-up in year break or 2wd vs 4wd? Definitely something going on there, not normal. May even check the trans mounts.

 

[chengny]

Yeah, the axis of the distributor shaft/oil pump drive shaft is not parallel with the centerline of the engine block. So, without the carburetor to block the view, the angle of offset is obvious when looking at the installed distributor cap.

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And see the same tilt on a different truck/motor:

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From Chevy High Performance site:

A The distributor hole in the production inlet manifolds of small-block and big-block Chevys is quite oversized. Edelbrock machines them even larger than the production inlet manifolds to take into account the variables of engine buildups. You may have noticed that the distributor doesn't sit perfectly straight up and down in the engine; it is offset to the right side of the engine by approximately 4 degrees. When you mill cylinder heads, cut the deck surfaces on the block, mill the intake manifold surface to match the cylinder heads, or use different thickness head and/or intake gaskets, you change the location of the distributor hole in the block and its relationship to the manifold. When the engine is produced by the factory, it is for a given deck height, gasket thicknesses, and head thickness, and the distributor hold can be kept at a closer tolerance.
What is your concern? Do you question if the distributor hold-down can do its job, or are you worried about an oil leak? First, the hold-down will have no problem keeping the distributor in place. There is practically no load on the distributor housing itself. As for a leak path, we put a very thin layer of silicone sealer on both sides of the distributor gasket. This seals it up perfectly. The only catch is that you must do this last, right before fire-up, and set the timing immediately. This will give the silicone a chance to seal in the proper location. To tune the car, get your dialing-in done either at the track or on a dyno. Then remove the distributor and seal it up. Either way, you won't have

 

[chengny]

Oh and this may have contributed to the illusion:

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[HotRodPC]

hahahaha, Had you scared !!!

 

[chengny]

hahahaha, Had you scared !!!

Or about to throw my tools down and quit wrenchin' .. something like that.