1955 mercury bearing squealing sound running

[arcticbuicks]

when I bought my 55 merc with a 292 V8 it has sat a few years but was complete rebuilt powertrain with low miles ……I got it running to load on trailer for 700 mile trip home and it had a loud “typical  alternator bad bearing squeal “ 

Once home I started checking things and getting it ready to drive , disconnected the belts - still squealed loud like H**L
Then I thought oh no the transmission - but with the stethoscope it was engine .

Then I picked up on the sound on oil pump which is external on the outside of the block .

Changed the oil pump - Still Squealed ……..????

Then I picked up on sound near distributor - pulled the distributor out and couldn’t turn it by hand , after taking gear off and pressing shaft out - found that the aluminum dist housing was chalky inside around the shaft .  Actually corroded tight to the shaft .
Cleaned everything and greased ……no squeal !

First time I have ever run across a squealing distributor in my life …..

 

[28 Chrysler]

I remember working on Ford farm tucks that ran for hours at a time doing field work just at an idle. These distributors would not get very much oil and would get sloppy at very low miles.