FEandGoingBroke

Know a guy, Paul...

Got a stroked 390 in his pickup, has a Comp billet Roller cam, Pertronix Distributor with a bronze gear that wore out at 1500 miles on the engine.

He is running the stock oil pump, and the power range of the truck is all in at 4200 rpm, it's the shop work horse.

This can't be normal but the guy at comp cams told him it was.

So I have a couple questions that I need answers for.

1: WTF is a Billet cam? (Billet to me is only used around the material we call aluminum... this is not no dang aluminum cam is it?)

2: Why can't a regular iron gear be used on this cam?

3: What could be the causes of the rapid loss of his bronze gear?


Thanks for your thoughts.

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Bikesandfires

1. Billet STEEL...Aftermarket roller cams are made of billet steel

2. Because billet steel is softer then the ductile iron castings or forgings that OEM cams are made of...NOTE: We are talking about aftermarket only..The OEMS use a different alloy that may or may NOT be harder then aftermarket.

3. The bronze cam gear is designed to be a sacrifical part. Its easier and cheaper to replace a worn dist gear then a cam with a worn cam gear. 1500 miles is not unusual on a street engine. BEWARE Chinese parts in this case especially, some of them have a very poor alloy of bronze that may last just a few hundred miles.

If your friend replaces his worn one with a good quality replacement he should get much longer service from it due to the fact that the original one used its life polishing and de-burring the cam gear it ran against.

retyler

replace with steel gear.

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351bolt

I agree run a steel gear. Thats what I have on mine

Pete

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66 Mustang 302/C4, new project for the wife

FEandGoingBroke

Steel gear is fine with the billet cam?

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Mroldfart2U

If I remember there was some compatability "chart" posted in a thread on this very subject as to what gears to use with which cams, but cant remember who had posted it or which thread its in. (maybe Dennis or h20Mike but cant remember) but yes the steel is fine with the billet...


MRO.....

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PSIG

I posted that somewhere recently. Bottom-line is normally to use a steel gear with a steel cam. The FE never had a factory roller cam or matching steel distributor gear (like the 5.0L, 5.8L, etc), so it would have to be an aftermarket replacement gear.

BTW - billet is a hot industry catch word for something that appears to have been machined to final form, rather than cast or forged to final form. "Billet" does not guarantee the item was not machined from a cast billet, and many sellers are doing just that. While it is inferred that a billet is a hot-worked or forged chunk of unfinished metal, it can also mean the same billet (chunk of unfinished metal) was formed by casting. So, "billet" in ads can simply mean a finish that appears to have been machined. This is especially true for 'bling' items.

David

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bmcd66250

Actually most aftermarket roller cams are cast SADI cores with selectively induction heat treated lobes and distributor drive gears. Some retrofit roller cams have a softer heat treat on the gear so that it is compatible with the old cast iron gear on the original distributor.

Bronze gears are for race cars that get disassembled every season. They don't live long on the street. Your friend more than likely needs a steel gear. Comp should be able to tell him, it's their cam. 'Course maybe they just want to keep selling him bronze gears... I bought the XE266HR cam in my sig used. I emailed Comp as to what distributor gear to run and they said to use " the stock Ford steel gear".

Edit: Forgot to mention, even though my Comp cam mates with a steel gear, it is a SADI core, not billet.

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70 Maverick Grabber, 5.0 (Performer RPM 2.02/1.6 heads, RPM intake, Comp XE266HR roller cam, Holley 650 DP, long headers), "Z" T5 w/Steeda TriAx shifter, 9" "N" case Trac Loc w/3.89:1, 31 spline axles.

KULTULZ

COMP Cams® Composite Distributor Gear

- Selecting The Correct Distributor Gear - CPG Nation Forum

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DISCLAIMER-

The above posted information is in my opinion only. It may contain copy and paste material(s). Your opinion(s) and mileage may vary.

FEandGoingBroke

The guy on the phone to him today specifically said bronze only...

He called another guy and sent his new gear to that guy, and HE is going to parkerize or some such chemical name to the gear to harden it or make it more compatible with the cam. I actually forgot the proper word but it sounds like a chemical of some sort....\

He will report back the results.


Thanks for the definition of Billet David, thanks for the comp link Kul, and thanks for the wise words you all gave.

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PSIG

Heh... Comp Cams (they're gonna love me for this) sure would like everyone to think you should only use a bronze or composite gear, being that Comp is the only one that makes them. Gosh - what did we do with steel roller cams before Comp began making those? What did Ford do with their steel roller cams since they started using them in the 1980s? LOL Anyway, I would first suggest following the original manufacturer's guidelines, and if not known, suggest the steel gears from the competition, such as the Crane 34970-1 or other alternative choice.

David

Alternative from Lunati:

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69fastback

With "billet" becoming such a generic term, you need to determine what the cam core material is. If its an 8620 core, it does indeed require a bronze distributor gear. An 8620 core cam will typically be copper in color. If its a 1050 core, you can run the steel gear on it. The 1050 core is far more common that an 8620 core.

While a bronze gear is designed to wear, if you have the gear placement in the proper place, and the pattern is correct, they should last a long time. I've ran them on daily drivers before and never replaced them.

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DanH

high volume and high oil psi thats not required , shortens the gear life

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FEandGoingBroke

He has a stock 1974 FE oil pump.

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