How important is the pad Looked at mine and it has a good bit of ware. Is there a fix. Does the gear touch the pad in block when running. What is the clearance between gear and block . I know this is a lot of questions but getting several answers.

 

There has been incidents where the gear is in contact with the block and it has happened to me. Oldsmobile distributor shafts pull down when the engine is running. My fix was to grind the end of the gear for clearance.