Play in distributor

[RonH]

I have a 1948 chief and I am trying to find out how much play I should have in the distributor, not side to side or end play, but how much should the distributor shaft turn? Seems like there is a lot of slop.

[Bills37]

It's a slip fit between the distributor shaft and the drive shaft in the oil pump. there will be a little but not much if everything is correct. Another place to check is the roll pin on the distributor drive shaft and gear. You would need to pull the distributor out to check this. Repairing it would require the removal of the oil pump.

[Skirted]

I replaced the distributor driveshaft in oil pump and the distributor shaft as well as bushing in my 48. For a visual reference with distributor cap off and grabbing the rotor and turning it back and forth, watching the end of rotor with contact it was moving slightly more than 1/8". After rebuild, rotational movement checked with same method was around 1/32" which of course was a significant improvement. Prior the bike ran and started good but felt something was holding it back slightly from being as crisp running as it should/could be.
After the distributor work the bike clearly was more responsive and the idle was smoother when hot. I changed no other parts in the process which helped insure the rebuild alone was responsible for the improvement.