I have pulled a few home with bronze gears over the years.  Been a long while, but the last one was a buddies 68 302 Mustang, wore it off entirely the shape of the cam gear, all the way around the gear, like it was made out of soft plastic

In every case, the car was a driver.

So why do you think this steel gear failed on Dave McLain after only 3,500 miles?  Is the 8th post in the  linked thread.

https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48321

So why do you think I got 10,000 miles on a bronze gear?  Was a Lunati solid roller street cam back when Joe Lunati ran the place.  Was a street/strip car.  Took several years to put that mileage on it.  Used to check it once a year.  Will say the 1st one did not last long, but after learning the correct way it lasted a lot longer.

Final question, how many miles do guys on here put on their rides a year?  Am sure someone will say 20,000, but most of these cars are getting old and bet sit more than anything. the OP is building a 511ci ERA Cobra.  I'd like to know how many miles a year that car will see. 

I think I’d need to hear “This is such and such core material with Rockwell such and such and no steel gear is compatible so you’ll have to run a sacrificial bronze gear”, a specific scenario, rather than a general statement.  I just don’t see why one would run a bronze gear, I’ve seen one fail in a light street use/strip scenario with a mild solid roller.  The constant wondering when it would fail seems absolutely unnecessary since steel gears are available, had one running going on 4yrs now in my car. 

How did OEM handle this with their rollers?  Cast gear on a steel core, or steel distributor gear?  Doesn’t seem like it needs to be complicated being that OEMs have run rollers for over 30yrs (granted newer engines don’t have gears).

Well the day you have a steel gear on a billet cam fail and wreck that cam you may see it different.  I have NO problem with a steel gear used on a cam that is compatible with it. I can tell you when one gear is harder than the other and there is wear the harder gear will win, but if it is a close race they both may get damaged.  While you had a bronze gear fail, I've personally have seen them last 10,000 miles.  Proper install and proper material matter.  Get that wrong and it won't last.  Another question how many miles you put on your car a year?  A lot of these guys don't even put 3,000 miles a year on their cars. Do you feel pulling the dizzy once a year is too much to check the gear? 

One thing with a bronze gear it takes the wear, not the cam. If I do not know for a fact that the cam and dizzy gears are compatible I'd rather be changing a dizzy gear than a cam.

Another thing to consider a bonze gear will not wear a cam gear.  A steel one will develop a wear pattern.  Crane recommended NOT to use their steel gear on a cam that was run already with a steel gear.  Now sure guys have done this 1,000 times and got away with it, but every time you put another gear on the cam has to re-wear to it. Considering what the OP wants to do running a bronze gear on his "break in" dizzy be the way to go for just this reason. 

I'd suggest asking the dizzy gear company what cam core types they say are compatible to answer your specific example question, although here is a link to a thread where Mike Jones (7th post in thread) talks about cam core compatibility:

https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59407

And here is one where Dave McLain had a steel gear fail on a steel roller cam after 3,500 miles.  Is the 8th post in the thread.

https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48321

Is interesting looking at that Holley's dual sync dizzy page. Says comes with a hardened steel gear, then goes on to say bronze gears are available for billet roller cams.

https://www.holley.com/products/ignition/distributors/holley_efi_dual_sync/parts/565-205

As for the OE's keep in mind they control the cam and dizzy gear material as well as the heat treat and machining.  Using aftermarket parts not the same as OE ball game.

If the car sits alot yes can cause sticking valves.  Can mess up carbs and fuel systems too.  Main issue is if water gets into the gas.  Stabil is a good idea regardless, but can still have problems. Some buy gasoline without the alcohol in it.

As to the chewed up valve heads not so sure it is the gas fault. I'd be looking at your rockers and valve train geometry. Also what oil is used and that everything's getting oiled correctly.

The oil relief valve in the side oiler is in the back lower left in the bell housing area. Guess may be possible to externally adjust it, but would require a hole in the bell and be hard to get to. Will have to look as the flywheel may be in the way too. Btw the HP C/O has that relief valve too, just is above the cam.

The S/O oils the mains and cam same time.  The  C/O oils the cam then goes on down to the mains. So the S/O is more direct.  Is also easy to add restrictors to the cam bearings on a S/O

I've always heard that the jiggle pin was to bleed air out.   Not sure, but Ford didn't use them on all FE's.  I just tap that hole for a pipe plug and plug it. 

I think there were a lot of things that Ford phased out over time because of technology updates.

Got treed... LOL. 

The side oiler was designed for the Nascar big ovals and for the Lemans.  Ford was looking to win and these engines had to turn 6-7k RPM for hours on end.  Ford also was using cross-drilled crankshafts in the high RPM stuff that really did not help, but was the thinking of that time.  Is part of why they needed such high oil pressure and the S/O setup. 

As mentioned most issues come back to the oil pan.  In around 1970 Ford revised the dipstick on 428cj giving them an extra quart. Just doing that stopped a bunch of engine failures that were happening.

The FE rod journal is a weak link as it is narrow and large in diameter.  Narrow reduces the load bearing area and large journal size raises the surface speed. Keep it oiled well and for most uses it will live. Switching to a BBC journal is an improvement. Believe Ray Paquet runs a BBC rod journal. Have a SS legal 2U crank here which has that modification.

Quote from: galaxiex on September 10, 2021, 07:44:40 PM

Scat rods not in stock at Summit.

I have 2 sets of Scat FE rods, but I would urge you to wait on the Molnars.  They are a better rod all the way around.

And a Carrillo rod is a better all around rod then the Molnar.  Both the Molnar and the Carrillo are not needed.  You tell him his rods will likely fail and then say don't use a rod (scat) that in reality is plenty stronger for the application then what he will subject it to. If he turns it up in the future unless he goes power adder, the path will be a stoker in which case he will need a different rod anyway. 

Is sad guy has a perfectly good short block and now tear it all apart, delay everything and spend $900 in rods and rebalance.  Still has a 50 year old 428 crank which could break too.  Metal fatigue happens to cranks too and guys have them fail, some on here won't use them at all. Still has that heavy, outdated piston with tractor rings.

Then there is metal fatigue.  These stock rod debates been going on as long as all the cheap aftermarket rods have been around. In 1990 everyone used stock unless it was a big buck racer. Shops knew how to assess the condition of a connecting rod. I know as I was taught this back then.  There are rods that go 200,000, 300,000 miles and do not break. There are reasons and if you look at how a bolt has to be pre-tensioned you will start to understand the failure mode. The fatigue resistance of the FE forged rods is about 1/3 better than a powdered metal rod which most OEM's use in engines today and rod breakage is not an issue. In the old days the stock FE rods were considered one of the better rods, now you would think they are only fit for a trailer queen.

Most rod failures are caused by something other than the rod. If it was mine I'd run what you have.  If you are going to spend a bunch of money buy a stoker as said before. The benefits are many. After you sell off your current rotating assembly to someone not scared of it the money you will have into it will not be all that much more than what you will spend on a set of Molnar rods and a re-balance.