FYI, Crane Cams makes a coated steel dist gear for use with billet cams. No more worrying about bronze gears not lasting. The Crane guy answered a question on Moparts about their durability by saying that they had been selling them to chebbie and ford guys for a decade now. They are about $100. Jeg's sells them, as probably Summit as well. Only ONE thing! You cannot use them on a cam that has previously had a bronze gear run on it.
First I have heard of this. Thanks for the information!
http://www.jegs.com/i/Crane+Cams/271/66970-1/10002/-1My problem is how do they last? Sure the manufacturer is going to say they are the greatest thing since sliced bread but ....? I can afford to experiment , better the devil you know sort of a thing?
Last thing I want is it to eat the cam shaft and spread shrapnel through my new engine? I can't afford to build it twice?
From Crane.....
Crane Cams now offers precision machined, specially coated and processed steel
distributor gears for popular engines using either cast flat faced lifter or steel roller
camshafts. Since roller lifter cams are made from either induction hardened steel
or carburized steel, neither of these materials are compatible with the normal
stock distributor gears. In the past, “bronze” distributor gears were used. For street
applications these gears can wear at a high rate and may have to be replaced on
a regular basis.
By using modern heat treating and manufacturing processes, Crane Cams has developed
a series of steel distributor gears that are compatible with standard cast cams and
induction hardened and carburized steel roller cams. Crane Cams now makes it possible
to use a steel distributor gear that provides OEM-style life-span, eliminating the need to frequently replace bronze alloy
gears. These Crane steel gears are available for most popular engines for both stock and aftermarket distributors.
The use of these gears on camshafts that have been previously run with other types or materials of gears, or the unnecessary
use of high volume/high pressure oil pumps, can be severely detrimental to the life of the camshaft gear.
Note: The “Shaft Diameter” dimension referred to is the portion of the distributor shaft, or intermediate shaft, that the gear
registers on. It may be necessary to remove the original gear to measure the shaft diameter correctly.