So....under normal rotating conditions......does the camshaft pull down on the distributor shaft or push it up as it rotates?

I forget which way the gears are cut.

bwhitejr

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To produce clockwise motion against inherent drag the sum thrust would favor the driven side of the pinion teeth and tend to lift the shaft. At the speeds and loading in operation the tendencies to slide back down from gravitic pull plus the top contact spring pressure and lash back from point squeeze on the lobes wouldn't likely be enough to overcome the shaft inertia involved.

At point float speeds it'd be a slam dunk of course but perhaps at a low enough idle you could get to a neutral balance with a free enough shaft and light enough oil. If so, then with a clear cap and enough axial play you could simply observe the effect first hand.

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Just set the endplay properly. The idea is to keep it as close as possible while leaving room for oil and heat expansion. This actually matters. It will minimise spark scatter if you keep it at the factory spec. I have set distributers up with less endplay than .007, but not with a nylon gear.

Gear teeth faces that are driving or driven always have pressure between them, otherwise the driven gear would not be getting driven.

What the hell?