Distributor Gears

[mag442]

I have a couple of BB Mopars that I service. These both have Billet roller camshafts in them. Both have Miloden bronze distributor gears. One engine has used 2 gears in 1500 miles. The other engine I can tell is wearing the gear as the ignition timing is retarded every time I check it when the car comes in. These are both street cars.
I have seen articles saying that you can use melonized gears on steel cams, and then also that you can't.
The other issue is that I am yet to see a melonized gear for a BB Mopar listed anywhere. My question is, can a melonized gear be successfully used in this application in a street car {if a melonized gear is available} If not, is there a better quality bronze gear.

[Daniel Jones]

Crane makes a steel distributor gear (p/n 69970-1) for big block Mopars. We've used it on steel cams in Ford applications. However, Crane says not to use it on camshafts that have been run previously with a different material distributor gear. I suppose they are worried about the cam gear getting embedded with aluminum/bronze or iron. I wonder if you could polish the cam gear well enough to get rid of any embedded material?

Dan Jones

[mark_follweiler]

talk to Chris Straub, Straub Technologies. fart smeller!

[pamotorman]

anyone ever tried to use a bronze gear hard chromed ?? on chevys I cut this groove in the housing to add pressurized oil to the gear interface

[tresi]

Have you seen if anybody would make a cam with an iron gear pressed on for your app?

[Walter R. Malik]

Have you seen if anybody would make a cam with an iron gear pressed on for your app?

The distributor gear is in the front on a big block mopar so, it would be difficult to remain a '
strong enough shaft for a roller application, to say the least.
A hydraulic roller with the less valve spring pressures ... maybe.

[mag442]

I found this on Hughes website,
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/prod ... rtid=26734
They say they are OK on steel billet cams, but must be used on a new cam only.

[mag442]

From that I take it Chinese gears are no good, but I didn't ask about chinese gears. I asked if you can use a quality melonized gear on a billet cam and if one existed for a big block Mopar. If not, is there a better quality bronze gear that will stand up to street driving....last longer than 800-1000 miles? Thanks John

[MadBill]

Have you seen if anybody would make a cam with an iron gear pressed on for your app?

The distributor gear is in the front on a big block mopar so, it would be difficult to remain a '
strong enough shaft for a roller application, to say the least.
A hydraulic roller with the less valve spring pressures ... maybe.

We've run a number of Jones solid roller SBF cams fitted with iron gears up front...

[Walter R. Malik]

Have you seen if anybody would make a cam with an iron gear pressed on for your app?

The distributor gear is in the front on a big block mopar so, it would be difficult to remain a '
strong enough shaft for a roller application, to say the least.
A hydraulic roller with the less valve spring pressures ... maybe.

We've run a number of Jones solid roller SBF cams fitted with iron gears up front...

Cool ... then they are able to be out there.

[Geoff2]

As the link that mag 442 posted says, they [ Hughes ] make the Melonized gear you need.

[BradH]

As the link that mag 442 posted says, they [ Hughes ] make the Melonized gear you need.

Hughes sells the Crane gear, they don't make their own. However, they offer it pre-installed on a new shaft whereas Crane offers only the gear.

I'm switching from SFT to solid roller for the first time with my build in progress. A couple of steps I'm taking to reduce bronze gear wear are deburring the cam gear using a wire brush attachment with my Dremel, and using a collar on the distributor shaft that limits the movement of the oil pump shaft when the distributor is installed. I'm also packing the spaces between the teeth of cam and oil pump gears with JGR/Driven assembly grease to help during the initial start-up.

I've asked people on Moparts.com about bronze gear wear issues and am surprised by the differences in lifespan being experienced. Some folks chew 'em up in under 1000 miles, while others go 4 or 5 times that long and replace them simply for piece of mind. I'm hoping the steps I mentioned above help put me in the latter category.

The bronze gears vary a bit between vendors, too. I have Milodon, a Mopar Performance, and 440 Source on hand. The MP and Milodon appear identical to my eyes, but the teeth on the 440 Source gear are cut a little differently (I'd have to post pics to show what I mean). I'm putting the MP part in now and keeping the Milodon as a spare... not sure what to do with the 440 Source one at this point.

[PRH]

My understanding is that the Crane steel gear isn't HV oil pump friendly...... Just something else to consider if you're planning on trying one.

[Powertrip]

Have you seen if anybody would make a cam with an iron gear pressed on for your app?

The distributor gear is in the front on a big block mopar so, it would be difficult to remain a '
strong enough shaft for a roller application, to say the least.
A hydraulic roller with the less valve spring pressures ... maybe.

We've run a number of Jones solid roller SBF cams fitted with iron gears up front...

The last time I checked with Jones, they were not available for a big block Mopar.

As the link that mag 442 posted says, they [ Hughes ] make the Melonized gear you need.

As has been already posted, Hughes does not make the Melonized gear themselves, and they don't recommend using one for a HV/HP oil pump, which makes me leery of using one at all.

[Powertrip]

I'm switching from SFT to solid roller for the first time with my build in progress. A couple of steps I'm taking to reduce bronze gear wear are deburring the cam gear using a wire brush attachment with my Dremel, and using a collar on the distributor shaft that limits the movement of the oil pump shaft when the distributor is installed. I'm also packing the spaces between the teeth of cam and oil pump gears with JGR/Driven assembly grease to help during the initial start-up.

Brad, have you considered drilling the main oil galley to squirt a small stream of oil directly into the interface between the gears?