The Quaife was an excellent recommendation...the car feels like it has 4 wheel steering now, compared to how it was acting before.
My comment above about "big boom, no damage" was less than accurate. I later discovered timing shake on my datalogs that got worse throughout the day at Thunder Hill culminating with the big backfire and broken rotor. After seeing the shake in the ignition timing inputs to the ECU, I decided to investigate deeper, and when I did I discovered that my comp "roller friendly" steel gear and my comp roller cam (purchased together and recommended by COMP) ate eachother. Not pretty, but at the moment it appears all the magnets I bonded into the bottom of my
oil pan did the intended job. I don't see metal anywhere other than at the bottom of the pan, but am not done with the investigation yet.
I have to pull the cam (gear worn) and will be trying something different. I'm happy with the duration, but since I'm not wanting for power I'm going to go with a more mild ramp rate, about .050 less lift, more LSA, and a 137 firing sequence. I'm also changing to the Isky EZ-Roll needle-bearingless lifters. I'm afraid of what happens when all those needle bearings fall out. I've seen pictures. I've always wanted to try the 137 sequence on a 385 series; now is a good opportunity. Oh, and screw the "roller friendly" steel gear...I'm going bronze and will simply change it as frequently as necessary in hope that if a failure mode like this were to ever surface again, it wouldn't take the cam with it!
Anyway...I'll be down for a few months at my pace...so be it.
Byron