Hopefully the guy the designed these cams will chime in...


Do the Voodoo's need the bronze rod or will the stock oe suffice? Lunati doesn't seem to know....they say bronze sound like a good idea (I think to cover their rears).

Vince,
I called the core supplier and left a message. I am almost positive you can run the std fuel pump pushrod but let me confirm that.

Your the man Chris.

I thought all billet rollers needed the bronze tipped push rod??

I thought all billet rollers needed the bronze tipped push rod??

:yes: So did I. :confused:

I thought all billet rollers needed the bronze tipped push rod??


I have heard them same.

Thats what I used!!!

Thats what I used!!!

Hey Will, that is one bad a$$ looking Chevelle! Beautiful!!:thumbsup:

OK Vince, sorry to take your post of track, back to the pushrod debate......

Vince,
Gold core billet needs bronze fuel pump rod.
Black core billet takes OEM style fuel pump rod.

Vince,
Gold core billet needs bronze fuel pump rod.
Black core billet takes OEM style fuel pump rod.

So it gets even more complicated!! OK, what's the difference, and how do we tell? When I bought my original roller cam 4 years ago, it's on a billet core, from Howard's Cams, and he told me to use a bronze tipped pushrod.

Gold core, black core.......???? OK, I need to be educated on this one.

Gold core, black core.......???? OK, I need to be educated on this one.

See, Im not the only one!!! Thanks Jim:D

Simple, between the lobes the core will either be gold in color or black.

Some steel cams have a copper plating on them between the lobes. These are definitely steel cams and use the bronze tip on the fuel pump rod.

But you have to be careful with this way of deciding the best push rod. I have some Lunati solid rollers down here that are black in color with no copper color but are not cast. They are on steel cores. The Cranes I have here have the copper flashing on their steel cores.

Slightly confusing to say the least. I would contact only the cam grinder whose cam you have.

Harry P. Hunter

Wouldn't it be safe to just run the bronze tip, or are there issues with that?

ARRRRRHHHHH.......


I don't remember if it was gold or black anyway. I ordered a bronze p/r anyway. Can it hurt to use it regardless? How often do those things get checked/replaced?

The bronze tip pushrod is not compataible with any cast cams. The problem you have is there are cast solid roller cams still around. Like I said above I have half a dozen Lunati black cores in stock. They are steel with a steel dist gear! These use bronze parts for sure.

Using a bronze tip fuel pump rod on a cast cam would give the sam results as a bronze distributer gear on a cast cam core. Will not last very long.

Harry P. Hunter

So if it was Billet you should be ok. I was told to use the bronze gear, so I decided I should use f/p rod too.

When I called Lunati they said that the Voodoo's were billet.

Vince,
Gold core billet needs bronze fuel pump rod.
Black core billet takes OEM style fuel pump rod.

OK, Im still not understanding something. Are there two types of billet cores here?? I was under the impression that if the roller cam was ground on a cast core, it would be black in between the lobes. I just ended up returning a cam a few months ago that I got, thinking it would be on a billet core...it was black in this area, and when I called them, they said, Oh, thats a cast core...anyway, the other ones I have are gold, or sort of silvery in this area, and they are on a billet core. So, what is black billet, and what is gold billet. I thought black was cast, and gold was billet, that was it. Right or wrong?

[quote=Epistuff;1297362]Hey Will, that is one bad a$$ looking Chevelle! Beautiful!!:thumbsup:

Thanks Jim (Epistuff),

Thanks for the compliment! That 70 of yours is pretty bad a$$ to! I'm still trying to get the motor dialed in along with the suspension.

Ooops! Back to the subject at hand! Bronze or not man! I did! :thumbsup:

I *think* the billet Voodoo I had was silver in between. I woulda noticed that pretty shade of gold if I had it.

OK, Im still not understanding something. Are there two types of billet cores here?? I was under the impression that if the roller cam was ground on a cast core, it would be black in between the lobes. I just ended up returning a cam a few months ago that I got, thinking it would be on a billet core...it was black in this area, and when I called them, they said, Oh, thats a cast core...anyway, the other ones I have are gold, or sort of silvery in this area, and they are on a billet core. So, what is black billet, and what is gold billet. I thought black was cast, and gold was billet, that was it. Right or wrong?

That's what I thought too! :confused:

Hey "Wolfplace" (Mike), what do you say about this? :D

I took photos of my voodoo hyd roller cam before I installed it, it is silver between the lobes. They pressed a cast gear for the distributor on so it sure should be a billet core. I ordered a bronze tip rod too.

Okay, I spoke with a 22 year veteran of Crane who supplies cores to the industry and got the following from him.

Gold billets are 8620 or 9310 material.
Must use aftermarket fuel pump rod. Bronze tip favored.

Black and Silver Billets are 8650 Induction hardened.
Hardening is done with a coil so areas of the camshaft can be hardened to different levels. These cams are designed to be run with an OEM fuel pump rod BUT, my contact recommends using an aftermarket fuel pump pushrod to be on the safe side.

All of these cores are cut from material that comes in bar stock form. The word "Billet" Cam sounds much better the "Bar Stock" Cam. I would ask if the cam is on a 8620 or 8650 core. Then you will know.

So, what is black billet, and what is gold billet. I thought black was cast, and gold was billet, that was it. Right or wrong?

A roller cam on a cast core will be black and have a rough finish, and also be very light since (I think) cast cams are hollow. Billet will be much heftier as they are solid, and will have a nice smooth area in between the lobes.

Okay everyone, back to square-one. Call the manufacturer.

This will all become more confusing as not everyone will know what dist gear will be needed later when doing repairs or recons!

Harry P.Hunter

Forgot I had this in the filing cabinet:
Note from Lunati's Core supplier in the Camshaft Machines catalog:

Note: Engines equipped with mechanical fuel pumps, OEM fuel pump pushrod no. 14094070 or equivalent is highly recommended to prevent fuel pump lobe wear.

I have about 2 hours on my Voodoo HR 60212 and was told by the designer UD Harold that it was a billet cam, but I did not have to use a bronze distributor gear.......I liked that because the soft bronze stuff wears out pretty quickly on the street. I didn not put in a bronze tipped fuel pump push rod, but reused my Moroso lightweight rod. I called Steve at Lunati tech and he was quite befuddled, but said that he didn't see any need for a bronze tipped push rod. Sure, the part is cheap and installation is a bunch easier than replacing the cam, but it is still a pain, and I still don't know what Harold Brookshire's position or Lunati's official position is. Also, I don't like the idea of a bronze anything wearing down in a street engine!

Just got off the phone with Harold as my new Custom Cam from him is black between the journals. As Cstraub noted this is a reflection of the type material used. And Harold recommended a bronze tip for my application.

Hope this helps.

I don't remember what "color" my Voodoo HR camshaft is...sheesh. No instructions from Lunati re using any special fuelpump pushrod. But, after reading this post and others, I guess I better pull my fuel pump and replace my aftermarket Moroso pushrod with another aftermarket pushrod with a bronze tip. Sure wish Lunati would have been upfront with instructions and said you don't need a bronze distributor gear, but you do need a bronze tipped pushrod!!!!

I went ahead and got the bronze rod - aint worth the risk.

Anybody know the life expectancy of these things?

Vince, mine has been in almost 4 years now...that's when I got my first roller cam.

just stuck in there...$14.55 for a Comp Cams piece.

For the record...the OE unit that I pulled out looked like new (but its only 20 minutes old).

I got a bronze tip one for my HVR but have yet to install it (backordered). As noted on past threads Comp also makes a trick roller pushrod for bout $100.

ttt

"He" probably doesn't know either...so run the bronze.

Just to throw mud in the water I called Lunati Friday 4/4/07 a hardened tip p/r is fine for their s/r cam with everwear dist gear per tech person.