350 distributor stuck

[Orange]

hi all,
i need help with my 68 buick skylark. i am doing a quick frame off rebuild and am just starting to piece the thing back together.
last night i slotted the distibutor in but it looked a tooth out (the vac advance was too close to the by-pass hose, so i pulled it back out and moved it 1 tooth back. when i slotted it back in it got really tight once it was down to the o'ring and it wouldnt go any further down to fully seat, so i tried to pull it back out to see what was up but it only came out to about 1/4 of an inch past the o'ring and wont come any further.
when i try to rotate the distributor body, there is one position that feels loose(ish) but moving it in either direction from there is super tight. i have turned over the cranck and the rotor turns with the motor no problem, so is still engaged and not jambed down there.

anyone had this problem, am thinking i will need to pull the timing cover off to fix, but am unsure if the timing cover will come off with the distributor in??

Regards,

Orange.

[Orange]

had a mate call by and with him helping by turning the crank over and me gently levering on the dist base it popped out. now the hunt for why it is jambing up......

Regards,

Orange