I went to change my rotor on my distributor but cannot take out the screw that holds the rotor on! It must be rusted/seized in there...the outside of the screw fits my socket but is slightly worn round from a previous attempt (not me!) and if I try and use a phillips screwdriver instead, it slips a bit and just does not unscrew the screw..I don't know how to get this fixed. I looked at the rotor and was thinking of just breaking the round plastic part and try and get a pair of good vice grips horizontally to try and grab that little screw and undo it that way..if I don't break the rotor it just gets in the way and my attempt with the vice grips has to be from above , and it just does not grip the screw head tight or well enough to unscrew it..
any tips!>???? Probably most people will say drill it out but I don't feel confident/knowledgeable to do this ..I have sprayed a little wd40 on the screw but I don't think the wd40 can get into the screw threads...and I don't want to damage my distributor with chemicals that may harm it! ? many thanks for ideas..

 

Take the distributor off of the car. Punch out the pin that holds the driver piece on the engine end of the shaft. Pull the shaft out of the distributor. Now you can work on the screw out in the open.

Note that the driver piece goes on two ways, you have to get it right or the distributor will be 180 degrees out of time and the engine will not start.

 

thanks .. will try it....