DeTomaso Mailing List: December 2000, Message #232

snip....<I've been thinkin' about it and realized that this shear pin might be a designed in safety feature. If your oil pump seizes up something has to give..... In fact, if the shear pin shears, then the distr. stops turning and the engine stops. This does not cause a boom, but actually saves the engine from running without oil pressure...>
Thats Microsoft-think; take a flaw and call it a "feature" instead of fixing it. In fact, it probably was simply because the roll pin is cheap & usually works fine if you change your oil often & drive without revving the engine very high. But if you're right, lets include the Ford big-block "Safety Feature": the small bypass hose on top of the water pump- when it blows, it sprays on the distributor, thus killing the ignition and saving overheated-engine damage! Naw.... J DeRyke