Is it possible for the rod that goes between the pump and dist. to come out the top or will I have to pull the pan and pump,,I think I know this,,just hopeful,,can't pull it thru with needle nose pliers.

I don't know how to break this to ya, but unless something's changed, The oil pump driveshaft on BBC's comes out the bottom.

It will come out the top BUT, you have to separate it from the plastic retainer that holds it to the pump shaft. Sometimes the retainer breaks when you try to separate them. I don't know of any way to get a good hold on the shaft to pull it from the top. Maybe a needle nose vise grip? Good luck. By the way, why do you want to take the the shaft out?

It will not if it is a hardened shaft with a pinned on sleeve.

I'm building a new motor,have my old one handy but the bottm is on(no big deal there but wonder about putting the new one on),and sealed the new pan up without putting shaft on,,DUHHHHHH!!Never fails I forget something.

so if I get the old one out,put on the new plastic sleeve it might go into the new Motor without pulling the pan????

Ah --- No

Man I hate it when that happens. Do your self a favor and pull the pan. It is the only way to get it back in correctly. You will not get the sleeve in from the top and if the sleeve is on the oil pump already there is now way to tell if it is cracked.
I use steel sleeved HD drives as INFO stated. I don't like the plastic sleeves.
By the way been there done that. Hope you used a nice reusable gasket.

That sleeve is only there to hold the shaft in place when assembling the engine upside down.

Once the distributor is in. It cannot go anywhere.

Well..... it can walk when cold if you're using an HV pump. Will it jump out of place if it wern't there?? Uhhhh I don't know but I wouldn't want to try it. In fact I have always replaced with the steel one because I really need the peace of mind.

Roby