4.3 "Crab Cap"

[Flying Hamster]

So...
Plugs and wires changed. Wanna change cap and rotor, but i'm hearing that the distributor is PLASTIC and usually breaks thru the screw holes. Also noticed there is no way in hell the distributor will come out past the cowl...
Short of pulling the motor, that is...
Any suggestions on how to NOT break the distributor?

[95 S_Trucker]

The tabs break off when the bolts get overtightened. So do your best to get them right without making them too tight. And there is plenty of room to pull the distributor on these trucks. I've done a lot of intake manifold gaskets on these.

[Flying Hamster]

Cap and rotor is done. A friend who owns a garage told me to look carefully at the screws that came with the new cap. The threads are different, which means it will cut new threads (added load on 12 year old plastic that has heat cycled a million times) and were longer. As far as I could tell, the mounting holes do not go all the way through the bottom of the mounting ears. I can see how either cutting new threads or bottoming the screws would lead to a broken distributor. Getting the cap out from under all the bracketry and A/C lines was an experience in itself.