X,
One thing that is not talked about much, but I have noticed myself, is that the gear on my comp cams roller cam had sharp leading edges on the teeth, so it was recommended by somebody on this forum, and I did, to use a dremel to buff the edges smooth to the touch. I have not yet ran this motor to see how durable it is. I plan on running a steel distributor gear with it as well. I think I remember in that person's post, that they said they do this on all engines they build with roller cams, and have not seen any wear problems. I think it also depends upon the engine design itself, as some engines may get less
oil to the teeth when running, and have a predisposition to gear wear/failure, such as the sbf.
Just curious, did you ever check for this on any of your cams/engines? Maybe this could have been a contributing factor?