1983 F-250 4X4

Hi, all. I recently purchased a 1983 F-250 4X4, 5.8L V8 with 36,000 original miles. My dad is doing most of the heavy lifting as I'm not a mechanic, just a casual observer of sorts. Today he told me he can't get the distributer to turn. After some Google sleuthing, I've learned it could be a problem with the oil pump. I was wondering if some of you fine fellows might have some troubleshooting advice or an idea of where to start ... or could point me in the direction of some info. Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
the new chick

I bought an '85 w/a 351HO that had "some electrical problem".  Turned out that the oil pump had seized and broken the oil pump/distributor drive shaft.  

So, if I were you/your father I'd pull the dizzy and reach in with a 5/16" socket, securely taped to an extension or two, and see if the drive shaft will turn.  It should spin the oil pump, and if you turn it counter clockwise with a drill you should see oil pressure come up on the gauge.  

And obviously mark where the rotor is pointing before pulling the dizzy as you want to get it back to that same spot.

Also, with it out check the gear on the bottom.  Does it have broken teeth?

Unless he means that the distributor is corroded to the block and stuck that way. I actually broke the distributor body on my old '85. After 200k reliable miles of never having to adjust timing, they do tend to get dissimilar metal corrosion and get stuck.

Thanks for the info! I will do some checking and get back with y'all tomorrow.

Wow, your dad just dove right in, didn't he?  

I'm not as sure about Windsors, but Lima engines do just what Myrl said.
The O-ring on the stem dries out and the stem of the distributor gets corroded.
The iron of the block isn't going anywhere....

I've resorted to torching it until spit sizzles and drenching the base in ATF.
Even then I've had to work them loose with a big pipe wrench.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Wow, your dad just dove right in, didn't he?  

I'm not as sure about Windsors, but Lima engines do just what Myrl said.
The O-ring on the stem dries out and the stem of the distributor gets corroded.
The iron of the block isn't going anywhere....

I've resorted to torching it until spit sizzles and drenching the base in ATF.
Even then I've had to work them loose with a big pipe wrench.

Or an oil filter wrench
Dave ----

That's a novel idea I'd never considered, Dave!

Thanks for the tip.
I know for sure that none of my strap wrenches could budge it.