What is the trick to getting the intermediate shaft in place? Seems like everytime to go install it, I spend 20 minutes slowing turning the oil pump shaft then dropping in the intermediate shaft only to find I am one tooth off one way or the other. It is like the intermediate shaft doesn’t engage the pump until the shaft is already engaged with the cam thus if the hex isn’t lined up it will not fall the rest of the way in.
I've fought that problem before. The cam gear has 18 teeth. The intermediate shaft has 6 flats. What is going to happen if you try to move the intermediate shaft 1 tooth? You guessed it, now it doesn't line up with the 6 flats. The easiest way to do it is to loosen the 4 bolts holding the oil pump on and pull it away from the block, now put the shaft wherever you want, then twist the oil pump to line up on the flats and tighten the oil pump bolts back up.
