Distributor drive Gear

[360duster]

Hi Guys, got a howards hydraulic roller cam, found out now that it´s made of billet steel. Is there a composite drive gear available for the big block? I´m not a big fan of the bronze drive gear.....have no experience up til now with it, just want to avoid trouble since this engine is for a cruiser that should see some street miles.

Michael

 

[kbr577]

I don't think there are any composite ones available, but you will be fine with a bronze on the street!

 

[MOPARMAGA]

Hi Guys, got a howards hydraulic roller cam, found out now that it´s made of billet steel. Is there a composite drive gear available for the big block? I´m not a big fan of the bronze drive gear.....have no experience up til now with it, just want to avoid trouble since this engine is for a cruiser that should see some street miles.

Michael

I'm not sure about composite either but you might want to check with Hughes to see what they have.

 

[4mulas]

Crane and a few others I believe make a Melonized one. This is what you need. Some may call it coated. I think Mancini has one too

 

[MOPARMAGA]

Crane and a few others I believe make a Melonized one. This is what you need.

Yes, that's what Hughes engines sells too

 

[Doug Sherwood]

Hello, I recently found a composite distributor drive gear for the small block and big block mopars from BOP engineering on the web. Has anyone used one of these?

 

[Bobzilla]

Hello, I recently found a composite distributor drive gear for the small block and big block mopars from BOP engineering on the web. Has anyone used one of these?

Interesting. I just checked out their website and it is listed, one for big block and one for small block. I did not know these existed for Mopar engines.

It is an interesting coincidence that you posted this because I just recently removed a composite gear from a small block Chevy that I have had running for about 15 years. I only removed it because I have been afraid of it for many years now. The thing is, composites, plastics basically, deteriorate over time. It is much worse when exposed to sunlight but that is not a concern inside an engine. There are older posts about the Chevy gears failing for, supposedly, no reason at all. I say supposedly because who really knows if there was a reason that was not disclosed.

Since I was afraid of a failure I replaced it with a melonized gear. I am not really sure if it ever would have failed, and this will be the first melonized gear I will be trying, but I can say the composite gear looked perfect when I took it out. No signs of wear at all. Although mine was a Chevy gear and not a Mopar like you are asking about, it is a composite gear that had a bunch of street miles and a bunch of quarter mile passes.

 

[toolmanmike]

Interesting. I just checked out their website and it is listed, one for big block and one for small block. I did not know these existed for Mopar engines.

It is an interesting coincidence that you posted this because I just recently removed a composite gear from a small block Chevy that I have had running for about 15 years. I only removed it because I have been afraid of it for many years now. The thing is, composites, plastics basically, deteriorate over time. It is much worse when exposed to sunlight but that is not a concern inside an engine. There are older posts about the Chevy gears failing for, supposedly, no reason at all. I say supposedly because who really knows if there was a reason that was not disclosed.

Since I was afraid of a failure I replaced it with a melonized gear. I am not really sure if it ever would have failed, and this will be the first melonized gear I will be trying, but I can say the composite gear looked perfect when I took it out. No signs of wear at all. Although mine was a Chevy gear and not a Mopar like you are asking about, it is a composite gear that had a bunch of street miles and a bunch of quarter mile passes.
View attachment 1716336613

Interesting. I would be a little leary of a plastic gear driving a high pressure or high volume oil pump. Even dual point distributors turn harder than sinle points do. Electronic distrib's don't have much drag at all. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Bobzilla]

Interesting. I would be a little leary of a plastic gear driving a high pressure or high volume oil pump. Even dual point distributors turn harder than sinle points do. Electronic distrib's don't have much drag at all. Just thinking out loud.

That is exactly why I took it out. I am afraid of it falling apart on the road somewhere and leaving me stranded. I probably should have left it in and just carried another distributor. Then I could see how long it lasts.
When I originally put this one together I had no experience with bronze gears on the street and melonized stuff was not common. This composite gear was the solution at that time.

I can say I am really happy it lasted and never had a failure. Quite impressed by that.

 

[Doug Sherwood]

Thank you all for the replies. I retired from Summit Racing after 24 years, and I sold a lot of the composite gears for the Chevy and Ford guys and never had a complaint. When I found the website, I thought I would ask for opinions on the topic for Mopars. I like running High Volume oil pumps, and its not recommended for the melonized or bronze gear. Has anyone used a melonized gear with a high volume pump? I am building a 408 out of a 360LA, and I am going to run a hydraulic roller cam and Trick Flow 190 Heads.

 

[Bobzilla]

Thank you all for the replies. I retired from Summit Racing after 24 years, and I sold a lot of the composite gears for the Chevy and Ford guys and never had a complaint. When I found the website, I thought I would ask for opinions on the topic for Mopars. I like running High Volume oil pumps, and its not recommended for the melonized or bronze gear. Has anyone used a melonized gear with a high volume pump? I am building a 408 out of a 360LA, and I am going to run a hydraulic roller cam and Trick Flow 190 Heads.

The small block Milodon bronze gear intermediate shaft part number 21535 says it can be used with high volume oil pumps. I hope so because I just bought one from Summit a couple weeks ago. It actually shipped from the Georgia location.

I plan to use this with a high volume oil pump and regular weight oil. No need these days for 50 weight oils if the build is planned around 30 weight.