[DeTomaso] Dist gear material

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/8/12 23 35 0, mikael_hass at mail.tele.dk writes:


> What does the OEM/factories use? Don't they use steel roller cams, and if
> they do, what dist gear do they use? Those engines last for several 100k
> miles, why do we bother with bronze gears? MME tells me I must use bronze
> gear.
> 

You need to find out *exactly* what their cam blank is made out of.   I 
suspect you have a steel hydraulic roller cam, just like mine.  My distributor 
gear failed because a vendor promised me it was a Crane steel gear (good) 
and instead it was a Mallory gear (crap).   Mallory states that their gear can 
only be used with CAST cam blanks, not steel cams.   Crane gears (and MSD 
too) are designed to work with steel roller cams.   You should have no 
problem with this same gear, I wouldn't think.

I just today installed and fired up my engine with my replacement cam and 
new, actual, no-kidding Crane gear (thanks to loads of help today from Julian 
Kift who drove 2.5 hours each way to spend the whole day installing my 
engine with me, what a guy!).   I have zero first-hand experience of course, but 
I have every confidence that this gear will outlast me!

Mike