[olddog]

I am no expert on this, but I have read on other forums where distributor gears were worn to the point the distributor quit turning is less than 500 mile. People were claiming he didn't break the engine in right, which was crap. A couple more gears and the whole engine was trashed from the metal. This case turned out to be the wrong gear for the cam. I have read of several others, and I have never heard a good technical explanation either.

From industrial experiance, not all steel is the same. Their are tool steels that are so hard you cannot scratch them with a knife, but if you drop them they shatter like glass. You can surface harden steel by many methods. I do know that two like metals rubbing together will cause them to gaul (SP?). I can also tell you that there are gear boxes with bronze gears running against steel that hold up under 24/7/365 for years and years.

I would not go against what the cam manufacture states, but if I was concerned I would want to talk to people who are running that exact setup.