Solid roller questions....

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RustyRatRod

RustyRatRod

I was born on a Monday. Not last Monday.
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I am not really familiar with solid rollers as far as the intermediate shaft and gear. What is required? I take it a bronze gear is required with a billet solid roller? How do they wear? Do they last a long time or do they wear quickly? Just thinking about a few different things. Thank you drive through.
 
My last two solid rollers i had ground, i had them install the cast gear on the billet cam so i could run a regular dizzy gear.
 
IMO, that's the way to do it. Who did you have do the cam grinding?
 
I haven't. I was looking at the smallest Howards solid roller for the big block.
 
I think Crane makes a steel gear, but it's just the gear so you'll have to mount it...and it's like $90

As a matter of fact, I think I asked a similar question about cam gears about a year ago regarding bronze gears
 
Rob,the Howard's" retro fit" hyd rollers,come with a cast iron gear installed on the billet core. Ask for it,they have it (cast iron gear option) available. Run a stock B/RB gear on it.
 
1970Duster said:
Use a harden shaft, cheap insurance
Click to expand...

hughs engines has a coated gear that is supposed to work w/ a solid billet roller, or any kind of cam. I tried ordering one and they were sold out at the time.
---------bob
 
All of this is great and I appreciate it. But so far, none of my questions has been answered. lol
 
The bronze gear really aren't intended for street use (but people do, their choice) because they wear out very quickly and as they wear, you get bronze metal shaving moving around in your motor switch is very bad for business. However if its a drag motor go for it, why? Because you're constantly ripping into the motor to rebuild/refresh the motor. So with all the said, use a solid roller cam (they're great) but just triple make sure when you order it that it has a cast iron gear on so you can run a regular intermidate shaft. Some will say run a regular shaft but I'd run a harden shaft for cheap insurance. This cast iron gear and harden intermidate shaft in what I run in my 340. Hope this helps.
 
Those gears supposedly can't handle too much rpm, thick oil, HV or HP oilpumps???
 
I read somewhere also that you cant run a bronze gear shaft and then switch to the coated gears. Just FYI. SO if you're installing a new roller cam with a billet cam gear you can go with a coated oil pump drive gear.
 
"The use of these gears on camshafts that have been previously run with other types or materials of gears, or the unnecessary use of high volume/high pressure oil pumps, can be severely detrimental to the life of the camshaft gear."
 
Now we're getting somewhere. I ain't worried about the shaft itself. That decision will come when I end up deciding on an oil pump. I HAVE an MP high pressure high volume, with the hardened intermediate shaft, but I am not set in stone on it.

Alright, so let me ask this. If you can run an iron gear on the billet cam as that Crane link says above, then why in the world did the industry ever use the bronze gear to begin with? Sorry for all the questions. This is something I don't know about and should I decide to go roller, I want to make sure I don't make any mistakes.

So, so far what I am seeing is, as long as I get an iron gear pressed on, I can run the standard type gear. Is that right?
 
I geuss I should read evry thred before shoting of the finger but here goes,,,Rob ack wen I raced if you had a roller you had to have a brass gear..but I know things have realy changed...I know I think his name is or the besnise was MRL sumthing like that but hes the man I would take his word on that befor any one.................Talk to you soon Artie:coffee2:
 
Rob: "Well I sure as hell wish you'd clue me in. I ain't learned a damn thing yet. lol". Agreed. I learn more here,than anywhere else.
 
Here is what I have learned by actually doing it. The Crane gear has been a problem for me to press on without a big hassle. I buy the brass gear and the billet cams 'cause its easy. I run the brass geared intermediate shafts on all my solid rollers. If you install a new intermediate shaft bushing using the proper tool, NOT A HAMMER AND PUNCH and set the cam thrust properly, the brass gear will last a long, long time even with high spring loads. The gear must be set at the proper DEPTH, AND a bushing worn radially (sloppy hole), will not let the cam and shaft gears mesh properly either. Its just like setting the pinion depth and backlash on your rear ends. This thread hasn't been too bad thank goodness, but man, if I used the 75% vomit that we get here sometimes, 100% of my engines would blow up.
 
How exactly do you go about setting the gear depth on the cam gear? Or do you adjust the intermediate gear? I could see how you could change the top of the intermediate shaft bushing(or add shims) to lower or raise the intermediate gear. Is that what you're referring to?

Thanks very much.

Oh and the springs I HAVE are the Isky 8005. That smallest Howards solid roller is like .550 lift. I am guessing the springs are adequate.
 
Oh and I have the correct too to install AND size the bushing, so that's not a problem.
 
So far, by using only the Mopar Performance intermediate shafts, I have found that by installing the bushing the proper way, I have experienced good wear. If I ever find that I start getting cutting lines on the brass I'm going to have to develope a tool to drop down the distributor hole to check the actual depths that are destructive. I learned about the gear depths while working on big block 460 Ford that was destroying brass gears left and right until we reset the gear depth to the factory specified depth. We had a stock distributor that had been modified to fit under a sheet metal tunnel ram and they set the gear on incorrectly and the brand new MSD distributor was wrong and chewing up the brass gear.
 
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