brass distrubuter drive gears??

dsmith · #1 (**permalink**) 06-28-2006, 01:17 PM

Who knows what about which type of drive gear should be run on the base of the distributer?

Brass distubuter gear (on Mallory) wore out after only a few hundred miles on my 428 motor. Most of the teeth are half the size they used to be, sharpened like knives and several were ground right off.

Initial result no spark at 70 mph while coming home on the highway last night.
Eventual result - total rebuild???

All this was discovered after being towed home.

I was told this morning that a brass gear should only be used if the cam has a cut gear on it and not a cast gear. I didn't realize there was a difference.

Is this general knowledge, is it the truth? I didn't build the motor and really don't know about these things.

I have replaced the brass gear with a steel gear and am having the engine flushed as best we can. They advised me at the shop to either pull the motor right now, or, in their opinion, "baby" it through the rest of the Summer and look for a Winter rebuild.

advice please... thanks

Power Surge · #2 (**permalink**) 06-28-2006, 01:32 PM

If you have a flat tappet cam, then you should be using an iron gear. Steel gears and brass gears are for steel roller cams only. If you use a brass gear on a flat tappet cam, you'll kill it in..well.. the time you killed yours

.

BossCER · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2006, 01:38 PM

The best thing for you to do may be:
Contact the Mfg. of your cam and ask what they recommend for a drive gear w/ your particular cam.

Anthony · #4 (**permalink**) 06-30-2006, 08:21 PM

You may also want to pull your cam, and "polish" the teeth edges on the cam gear, as sometimes they can have sharp edges, and I think lead to excessive distributor gear wear. I polished mine with a dremel.

LMH · #5 (**permalink**) 06-30-2006, 09:52 PM

In small blocks, (Don't have as much experience with BB's) the brass gear wears quickly when used with a HV oil pump. Too much load on the gear. Breaks the shaft or pin also. Lots of discussion about it on the FFCobra site.
Best to use what the cam manufacturer recommends.
Larry

Excaliber · #6 (**permalink**) 06-30-2006, 10:42 PM

Brass gear is for a roller cam, no doubt about that. If you have a flat tappet cam, don't use brass.

Total rebuild because you lost the brass distributor gear??? Gimme a break, baby it my a$$. Drive it like you stole it! Change the oil, change the filter and let her rip.

Other causes of early dist gear failure are incorrect clearance on the dist drive shaft and the engine block. HV or High Pressure pumps also increase wear. Bad bushings in the dist itself will cause premature wear.

SantaFe66 · #7 (**permalink**) 08-20-2006, 12:00 PM

Just found a link on a distributor mfg site about excessive gear wear on Fords and the reasons it happens. Here it is:

http://www.performancedistributors.com/technical.htm

Might be helpful.

I have one of those distributors for sale, if anyone is interested. Very easy install as it doesn't need a coil (it's in the cap) and will interface with an MSD 6AL box for the rev limiter.

Paul