I'm lookinmg for feedback on bronze gears for the distributor.I'm going to run a roller cam,is it worth to spend an extra $50.00 for a cast iron gear on the cam to be able to run a regular gear on the dist. or should I just leave it as is and replace the dist gear for a bronze one?The cam is a billet unit,I'm thinking of buying it but I want to hear from people that have run bronze gears or any opinions on the subject.

How much powdered bronze do you want to find stuck in your bearings?

Bronze gears wear. The metal fragments fall into the oil. The filter catches "most" of it.

It's well worth the extra cost to avoid the bronze gear.

Bronze Gears have a mind of their own, I know of some that have lasted over 500 passes and some that went away in 3 passes. I've also talked to a few people that have always ran iron gears with a billet roller cam for years and not had any issues at all.

COMP cams also makes a "composite" gear for the distributor. No trash in the oil and it will work with any cam. About $100.

Bronze gears are OK but you need to check them often. As blk64ss said, some last a while and some burn up in a hurry. It's also recommended to eliminate your oil pump bypass when running a bronze gear so you don't circulate all the bronze particles through your motor, but with the bypass eliminated you have to keep the RPM's down when the oil is cold as you run the risk of blowing up your oil filter.

Originally posted by d1_bradley:
COMP cams also makes a "composite" gear for the distributor. No trash in the oil and it will work with any cam. About $100. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience the polymer gears don't live long with an oil pump; the harmonics and load from the pump seem to trash them. I've seen anything from a life on par with a bronze gear to extremely fast wear to all the teeth sheared off during the first run of the motor. The plastic gears work great (and seem to last forever) on a dry sump motor though since there is no load on them other than a distributor.

I would definately pay extra to have the iron gear installed on the cam blank so you can run an iron distributor gear. If installed properly, they will last a long, long, time.

A big cause of distributor gear problems is that at least one of the blank manufacturers seems to be putting out total junk lately; I've seen quite a few cams from both Comp and Crane lately with TERRIBLE surface finishes, burrs, and sharp edges on the cam gear. I hear similar reports from engine builder friends all over the country. These crappy gears will eat any distributor gear in no time flat if you don't stone and polish the gear (or send them back for another one and hope you get a good one.)

Troy

GM has a gear in their performance parts catalog. PN 10456413 They say it will work with steel roller cams. In fact I bought one. Haven't run the motor yet .So I can't say how well it works. I think it cost around $ 30.00 . jay

Originally posted by jay:
GM has a gear in their performance parts catalog. PN 10456413 They say it will work with steel roller cams. In fact I bought one. Haven't run the motor yet .So I can't say how well it works. I think it cost around $ 30.00 . jay I believe that is the Melonized distributor gear. A Melonized gear is OK for use on factory hydraulic roller cams and many aftermarket hydraulic roller cams, but it is not a good idea to run on an aftermarket full-boogie billet steel roller cam UNLESS the core has a pressed-on iron gear. A billet steel cam with a billet gear on the cam core requires a bronze or plastic gear on the distributor.

Troy

the other option is having the bronze gear dry film coated,iv'e heard of this working well,extending the life of the gear

has anyone seen good results with the coating?

Originally posted by Gokou:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by jay:
GM has a gear in their performance parts catalog. PN 10456413 They say it will work with steel roller cams. In fact I bought one. Haven't run the motor yet .So I can't say how well it works. I think it cost around $ 30.00 . jay I believe that is the Melonized distributor gear. A Melonized gear is OK for use on factory hydraulic roller cams and many aftermarket hydraulic roller cams, but it is not a good idea to run on an aftermarket full-boogie billet steel roller cam UNLESS the core has a pressed-on iron gear. A billet steel cam with a billet gear on the cam core requires a bronze or plastic gear on the distributor.

Troy </font>[/QUOTE]Troy is correct...

Yep.....I had that experience with my cams and now have a bronze gear and am very happy with it.....I will only run a bronze from now on....