[rotorwrench]

I don't know how the manufacturers drill the shafts but they should be to a specific tolerance of location in my way of thinking. I've looked for a specification on the end play but I don't find much on line. Shafts like that should have some end play. I figure around .0025 to .005 should be fine. I'm fixing to overhaul one myself so I'll see if I can find out what the thickness of the shims that are available. The shim thickness would be key to getting the proper end play spec I just mentioned. If a person puts it together with no shim at all and it falls within that spec then I wouldn't get too worried about it. It should be fine. If the shims are too thick to help then a person would have to find some thinner shims or live with what you have. I think the fiber washers are available in two thicknesses. One from Bratton's is .048" but the other they mention has no dimension listed. I'm not sure how well some fiber washers would hold up. I've seen some that have no fiber washer on the bottom. I don't know if a previous rebuilder excluded it or if it disintegrated.

There is likely some thrust loading from the distributor shaft drive assembly depending on how much end play it has. It would be hard to tell how much play exists unless the drive was removed and inspected. I'd figure that it may not have that much affect on the distributor unless it too has a lot of end play due to drive gear sleeve wear or wear on the dive body casting (or both).