Hardened Steel Distributor Gear

[MExpress]

I'm getting conflicting answers regarding running a hardened steel distributor gear with a cast iron flat tappet cam.
From what I've been reading some say it is compatible and others say no.
Which is it?

[My427stang]

It depends, there are many different gears out there.  If it is a melonized iron gear, you are likely OK, but I would ask the gear manufacturer.

[blykins]

Hardened steel?  No go.  You need a cast iron gear.

[MExpress]

 Thanks Brent.

That's what I figured.

I just installed the iron gear as suggested.

[Falcon67]

I prefer to run brass or composite and check them once in a while. 

[blykins]

Steel = steel, cast iron = cast iron.  Never have to check.

Bronze is for Chevys. 

[pbf777]

  If it is a melonized iron gear...........

    This is GM terminology and technology, and although this vocabulary is popularly implied to The Ford product, it didn't exist, until perhaps Comp-Cams, so confused with what their cam cores were being made of, and therefore unknowing of what to recommend as far as distributor driven gear material, did as has been so commonly practiced in the past, "if it works for the Chevy's just close your eyes and sell the same $het to the Ford guys"!  But your still stuck with the question.............is it the correct gear material for your application?        

     Scott.

[Barry_R]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferritic_nitrocarburizing

[My427stang]

  If it is a melonized iron gear...........

    This is GM terminology and technology, and although this vocabulary is popularly implied to The Ford product, it didn't exist, until perhaps Comp-Cams, so confused with what their cam cores were being made of, and therefore unknowing of what to recommend as far as distributor driven gear material, did as has been so commonly practiced in the past, "if it works for the Chevy's just close your eyes and sell the same $het to the Ford guys"!  But your still stuck with the question.............is it the correct gear material for your application?        

     Scott.

Not sure what you are getting at here, not really a Chevy thing, a hardening thing.  I brought it up because many "roller cam" gears are often melonized iron unless specifically listed as steel.

Best bet is as Brent said, steel on steel, iron on iron.  I am not a bronze fan, seen too many towed in and the teeth pulverized into somewhere.  Amazingly, it never seemed to hurt anything, but that's a lot of material.  Haven't tried composites

[Falcon67]

I already lost one cam from steel on steel eating each other up, not going $300 in the hole again.  I'll stick with Chevy bronze.  I just checked the one in the dragster motor after two season, looks fine.

[blykins]

Well, when you only go a 1/4 mile, it's gonna look fine LOL....500 passes is just 125 miles. 

The second biggest issue that I see, aside from wrong materials, is when guys install them wrong.   Not saying that's what you did, but most guys think that you can pop one off and put the new one on right back in the same spot, pop the pin in, and you're done.  Fords are much more sensitive to this install dimension and it can mean life/death on a gear.  You'd be surprised at how many people mess this up.   I bought a distributor off of a pretty well-known Cleveland engine builder once, dropped it in the engine, and fired it up on the dyno, only to immediately watch the spark plug wires get wadded up as the distributor turned. 

[Falcon67]

>Well, when you only go a 1/4 mile, it's gonna look fine LOL....500 passes is just 125 miles.

LOL - 62.5, I only run 1/8 mile.  So even less wear and tear.  Terrible gas mileage though...

[Barry_R]

Want to have fun with that sort of math? 
Calculate the lifespan of a top fuel engine in RPM.
They turn maybe 8000???
For under 4 seconds
Give them an extra two seconds for burnout and 10 for backup/stage at 2000
Then they get rebuilt.

Thats what - 1000-1200 crank rotations total?

[cjshaker]

Want to have fun with that sort of math? 
Calculate the lifespan of a top fuel engine in RPM.
They turn maybe 8000???
For under 4 seconds
Give them an extra two seconds for burnout and 10 for backup/stage at 2000
Then they get rebuilt.

Thats what - 1000-1200 crank rotations total?

It's a Chrysler design, what do you expect? 

[BigBlueIron]

Want to have fun with that sort of math? 
Calculate the lifespan of a top fuel engine in RPM.
They turn maybe 8000???
For under 4 seconds
Give them an extra two seconds for burnout and 10 for backup/stage at 2000
Then they get rebuilt.

Thats what - 1000-1200 crank rotations total?

It's a Chrysler design, what do you expect? 

Ha!

A friend has a nitro funny car, he was telling me some of these numbers. It's truly unbelievable.