Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Replacing 235 distributor gear and pin

I have about 7 or 8 235 Chevy distributors that I want to rebuild. I just purchased a working 60s/70s Sun 404 distributor machine to get the job done accurately. In order to get the advance mechanism and the lower part of the 235 distributor cleaned up, the shaft will need to be removed. Would anyone have any experience in removing and replacing the distributor gear pin on a 235 distributor? The originals are solid and were machine press peened on.

My experience is limited. I needed to replace the hardened distributor drive gear used in 216 and early 235 forged steel cam shaft engines with a gear compatible with the later cast iron cam shafts.

A more modern spring steel roll pin does the job nicely. No need for peening the ends. Langdon's Stovebolt has the gears and the pins for this part of dizzy rebuild. The text books say a new camshaft should always include a new dizzy drive gear as they wear as a set.