[cliff tate]

building a 5ltr engine with the stock roller cam was told i can not use the ditributor gear frome a non roller cam engine.bought the core and was going to use the dst frome the 302 in my 32ford as it is recurved. can any one shed any light thanks cliff

 

[NXS]

I once ran a standard gear on a 5.0 with no problems. I know this matters on a Chevy...it is better to err on the safe side.
You may be able to pick up a roller gear at a salvage for free, if you know the parts guy.

 

[70bird]

I don't have any experience with Fords so this may or may not apply. Most roller cams are made from billet steel which is a harder material than non roller cams. The steel will eat up an iron gear. I've read that some manufacturers put an iron gear on their roller cams so they don't have that problem. I learned this the hard way. My distributor gear was worn down to a knifes edge in about 3000 miles. Chevy has a gear that they use on their roller camed engines. I haven't put many miles on it yet, but so far wear is minimal. I would think that Ford would also have a gear for roller cams. Crane (or Comp) sells a distributor gear for $100 that they say you will never have to worry about or replace. I wonder if it will wear the cam. That's my 2¢.

 

[RCastle]

While you are at it with the distributor out,get a better than stock oil pump drive shaft.That junk factory hex shaft is prone to twisting and then breaking,leaving you with 0 psi.

 

[cliff tate]

DIST GEAR

THANKS for the help guys cliff

 

[Max Keith]

roller cam distributor

The roller cam uses a bronze gear on the distributor. At least thats what Ive been told. I do know you arent suppsed to use a conventional distributor with the roller cam. If there are other reasons beyond the material of the gear, Im not aware. He is right about the material used in the production of roller cams vs the conventional cams.

 

[lluciano77]

Mallory and a few other aftermarket distributors work with roller cams. They don't use bronze gears. I can't remember what type of metal they use.

Bronze is usually what came stock.

 

[70bird]

The bronze gear is the one that will wear out about every 3000 miles.

 

[2-manytoyzs]

Ok ... last night I read this thread and Googled 5.0 dist gear and spent about 2 hrs reading about dist gears. This interested me because I'm putting an 89 Mark VII 5.0 HO in my sons 69 Mustang. I recently pulled an 88 5.0 HO Mustang apart for a neighbor that is using the drivetrain for his Cobra project. It had a cast gear in it. I have a 88 5.0 base motor "roller" in the garage with a steel gear in it. I have another dist for a 90 HO with a cast gear in it. I have learned that there is still a lot of confusion out there on dist gears for 5.0 and if you put the wrong gear in it there is a good possibility of destroying the gear and/or the cam. I figure I can go to the dealer and order one if there not obsoleted from the catalog by now. Their books would be more specific to application.

95 % of what I read is steel gear with the late 5.0 "roller cam" engine. Also that Ford never made a 5.0 with bronze gear.

 

[Max Keith]

distributor gear

Well at least that closes that myth. I would say I got told wrong about the gear as well. Good idea to go to Ford for the gear.