Billet solid roller cam eating up distributor gears!!!!
Steel, this one's waaaay beyond me, whish, sadly, ain't sayin' much!:o
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,525
Likes: 2
From: Houston TX
Originally Posted by Muffin
Aaron where can I find a good explination of properly aligning the distributor gear? Don't think it is in any of my books.
Take the distributor out of the engine and remove the distributor gasket. Reinstall the distributor back in the hole (don't worry about TDC or aligning the rotor at this point). After the distributor is fully seated, check to see if there is any gap between the gasket surface of the distributor and the gasket mating surface of the intake manifold.
If there is clearance (assuming the distributor is fully seated), then you will need to use that thickness of the gap plus a factory thickness gasket which I think is ~0.035" thick to arrive at the proper installed height.
If there is no gap, then the distributor should be pulled up and re-inserted listening for the "tale-tell" clink as the distributor gear lower surface contacts the internal machined surface on the block.
If you do not hear that "clink", then the distributor is not inserted far enough, and now you will need to determine what may be causing the "mis-alignment". This can be caused by different height on the intake, machining of the heads/intake, or even some of the thicker intake gaskets or head gaskets. If the mis-alignment is "significant", then an adjustable collar distributor (like those made by MSD and others) may be used to correct the mis-alignment.
Bottom line, the distributor should "bottom out" in the block with very little to no clearance on the intake manifold surface without a distributor gasket installed. The factory gasket will provide the necessary clearance needed for oiling and proper alignment.
I hope this helps,
Aaron
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,097
Likes: 2
From: Richfield Utah
Originally Posted by Steel Breeze
Hmmmm I read this article, and it got me thinking. So I checked out my distributor. Say instead of the slot. You drill a small hole, say 0.010"-0.020" In the area of the galley providing oil to the lifters On the dist. Now being an electronics tech. I have some circuit board drill bits that are so small you can barely see them. Now, with that said, you would not only provide oil to the gear, but also the bottom bushing. Of course this would have to be done with the distributor completely disassembled, so's to clean out the filings from the drilling proceedure. Just thought I would shoot the question out, and see what the rest of you think? :o
Racer
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: New Freedom PA
Distributor Gear Wear
Hey Guys,
Take it from an old "GEARHEAD" and Master ASE Tech , the post about checking the Distributor clearance from the "Drag Race Engine Builder" is RIGHT ON the money. that is the ONLY way to check for proper clearance.
Also in a Race engine application all roller cams use a bronze(Brass style) gear, but caution should be used on the street do to high wear from street miles.Comp Cams makes the new Hard style gear but its about $100.
One final note ,80 PSI of oil pressure is alot , just to let you know maybe think about changing to a thinner oil or modifying your oil pump.
If you can't do either give about 2-5 minutes of warm up time , so the oil can thin out.
I had a Smallblock 406 , with 20W-50 oil that broke a distributor gear on a cold morning do to the strain of turning the pump with thick oil.
Just my 2 cents....thanks for listening
Desert
Take it from an old "GEARHEAD" and Master ASE Tech , the post about checking the Distributor clearance from the "Drag Race Engine Builder" is RIGHT ON the money. that is the ONLY way to check for proper clearance.
Also in a Race engine application all roller cams use a bronze(Brass style) gear, but caution should be used on the street do to high wear from street miles.Comp Cams makes the new Hard style gear but its about $100.
One final note ,80 PSI of oil pressure is alot , just to let you know maybe think about changing to a thinner oil or modifying your oil pump.
If you can't do either give about 2-5 minutes of warm up time , so the oil can thin out.
I had a Smallblock 406 , with 20W-50 oil that broke a distributor gear on a cold morning do to the strain of turning the pump with thick oil.
Just my 2 cents....thanks for listening
Desert
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,379
Likes: 4
From: rome ny
Originally Posted by Desert1957
Hey Guys,
Take it from an old "GEARHEAD" and Master ASE Tech , the post about checking the Distributor clearance from the "Drag Race Engine Builder" is RIGHT ON the money. that is the ONLY way to check for proper clearance.
Also in a Race engine application all roller cams use a bronze(Brass style) gear, but caution should be used on the street do to high wear from street miles.Comp Cams makes the new Hard style gear but its about $100.
One final note ,80 PSI of oil pressure is alot , just to let you know maybe think about changing to a thinner oil or modifying your oil pump.
If you can't do either give about 2-5 minutes of warm up time , so the oil can thin out.
I had a Smallblock 406 , with 20W-50 oil that broke a distributor gear on a cold morning do to the strain of turning the pump with thick oil.
Just my 2 cents....thanks for listening
Desert
Take it from an old "GEARHEAD" and Master ASE Tech , the post about checking the Distributor clearance from the "Drag Race Engine Builder" is RIGHT ON the money. that is the ONLY way to check for proper clearance.
Also in a Race engine application all roller cams use a bronze(Brass style) gear, but caution should be used on the street do to high wear from street miles.Comp Cams makes the new Hard style gear but its about $100.
One final note ,80 PSI of oil pressure is alot , just to let you know maybe think about changing to a thinner oil or modifying your oil pump.
If you can't do either give about 2-5 minutes of warm up time , so the oil can thin out.
I had a Smallblock 406 , with 20W-50 oil that broke a distributor gear on a cold morning do to the strain of turning the pump with thick oil.
Just my 2 cents....thanks for listening
Desert
