Hello,

I am in the process of rebuilding a mild 5.2L Magnum.

As this is the first time doing anything like this I have a question not addressed in any of the rebuilding manuals I have.

Once the engine is reassembled, how do you prime the motor without removing the distributor intermediate shaft? I know you have to pull the distributor first, but how do you pull the shaft? Do you have to leave off the intake until after the motor is primed so you have access to the distributor shaft to remove and then realign it after priming?

Or, am I over thinking this? It appears that you cannot prime the engine with the shaft in place as the gear engages the camshaft.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

if you spin the shaft backwards it will ride up and out of the cam gear, then you just pull it out. You need a shift with no gear teeth to use as a priming rod.

I am assuming that these motors use a bushing in the block like big blocks do, so if that is the case, make sure you put some kind of protector over the rod where it goes through the bushing.