Re: 1972 mercury 1150 distributor problems
Sure, The older inlines had bolts from the top, so you will need to pull the outer flywheel. Set the motor to top dead center on #1 cylinder. Disconnect distributor wires and linkage. Remove the 8 5/16" bolts that ring the flywheel nut. Remove the outer flywheel. Remove the dist. pully cover (5/16" wrench). Pop the pully and timing belt off. Remove the three dist. bolts. Inspect the old and new distributors. if they are not identical on the outside, you may need to swap the outer housings.
Install the new distributor. install the pulley, and outer flywheel(use blue locktight on the 8 bolts). Turn the pully until the cast arrow points to the punch mark on the flywheel. Install the timing belt. Install the pully cover bolt with blue locktight.
Locate the "Timing and synch of Inline Motors" posting by Clams Canino on this forum, and complete the timing and synch.
If the trigger in the old distributor is still good, save the dist. housing, for when your new trigger goes bad.....