[wolf k]

After I wrote that, I wondered about what if you heat the gear prior to installing. You would have to act fast with the installation and have an alignment drift ready. Also, you would have to use the same gear from the same manufacturer to ensure the hole in the gear is located in the same exact place as the hole in the old gear.
As we know, distributor gear depth is critical on Fords. I recently diagnosed a customer's ignition issue due to worn distributor gear. Gear had been replaced prior and not installed deep enough on the shaft by .050". Well sure enough, his bearing pad in the block was ground down by the same amount. Metal shavings throughout engine, although his gear was iron.