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Distributor gear eaten in 3000 mi.

919 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Shawnski 
#1 ·
I have a Gen 5 HO 502cu crate engine in my '70 Firebird. It has just over 3000 mile on it and the distributor gear is sharp enough to slice your finger if you run it across it. The wear is uniform. It looks pretty even the whole length of the gear. I don't have a roller cam, so that's not the problem.

Any Ideas?
 
#5 ·
I've read that roller cams are made from billet and are made from harder material than a non-roller cam. The harder material will wear down the softer distributor gear. I think it was in Car Craft about 5 or 6 months ago. They did a walk through on going to a roller cam in a non roller engine.
 
#6 ·
70bird said:
I've read that roller cams are made from billet and are made from harder material than a non-roller cam. The harder material will wear down the softer distributor gear. I think it was in Car Craft about 5 or 6 months ago. They did a walk through on going to a roller cam in a non roller engine.
As usual, the car magazine got the facts 100% wrong. It has been decades since you could trust anything a car mag says, basically since the likes of Roger Huntington retired. Hardness of the drive gear has so little to do with wear on the driven gear it isn't worth discussing. As long as the gear isn't too soft, which is not very likely, the only critical specifications are geometry (precisely correct in the vast majority of cases) and tooth surface finish. If the teeth on your cam gear are smooth and shiny, your problem resides in lack of lube, over-stress on the driven gear from too big a load, worn bushings, or some other cause on the driven end.
 
#7 ·
Brass gears wearout

I had the choice of brass or hardened steel for my roller cam. If it is a race motor and is tore down often, go brass very forgiving on the mesh, however street engines demand the steel gear for longevity as the brass lasts oh about 3000 miles...
 
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