Wessy

How do I tell if I have an iron gear or steel gear? I bought a new Billet Steel MSD distributor 8582 I think. I have a roller cam and I know if I use an iron gear the cam will shred it.

69mach1377

I think it is iron, but MSD should be able to confirm. I heard you may want to use a bronze gear for a roller cam? It may depend on the lift though. The cam supplier should be able to answer that better.

Wessy

It's just a stock cam for an explorer. I called a local speed shop and they said it should be ok, but they didn't sound too confident.

vfast

DISTRIBUTOR GEARS





A distributor’s performance is only as good as its drive gear. MSD Ignition has put a great deal of effort into researching and testing a variety of metallurgical compositions, heat treating and coatings to provide you with a durable, accurate and strong distributor gear.
MSD engineers have built test fixtures and spent hundreds of hours testing and evaluating the metallurgy of our gears. The result is a special alloy iron gear that is treated to a low friction coating process. To you this means long life, an easy break-in period and reliable performance!


Iron Gears

* Increased outer hardened layer thickness (RC 55-60).
* Micro polished surface for smooth contact.
* Proprietary formulated ductile iron.
* Melonite QPQ coated reduces friction and initial wear.
* Interstitial carbide concentration improves wear resistance and running properties.

Iron Chevy Gear, .500" ID PN 8531
Iron Chevy Gear, .500" ID,
Oversize 0.006� OD PN 8532
Iron Gear, Ford 351W, .531" ID PN 85852
Iron Gear, Ford 289, 302, .468" ID PN 85832
Iron Gear, Ford 351C, 351M,
400, 429, 460, FE, .531" ID PN 85812

NOTE: Some Ford Gears do not have roll pin holes.

Special Ford Applications:
There are different versions of the Ford 302 engine that may require a special gear. The 302 engines with a roller camshaft require a special steel gear.

Non-EFI 302 with Roller Cam, 0.468� ID PN 85833
EFI 302 with Roller Cam, replacement for MSD PN 8455 and 8456
MSD 351W Distributors, 0.531� shaft PN 85834


Bronze Gears
MSD Bronze Distributor gears are machined from quality AMPCO 45 aluminum bronze containing 5% nickel. This special combination creates high strength gear teeth that are less prone to wear even with high volume oil pumps.

Gear, Chevy .500" ID PN 8471
Gear, Pontiac V8, .500" ID PN 85631
Gear, Oldsmobile V8, .500" ID PN 85661
Gear, Ford 289, 302, .466" ID PN 8583
Gear, Ford 351C, 351M, 400, 429, 460, FE, .530" ID PN 8581
Gear, Ford 351W, .530" ID PN 8585
Gear, AMC V8
Gear, Chrysler R5 PN 8252

Bronze Oversized Gears
Absolute timing accuracy cannot be achieved until every mechanical detail is handled. MSD’s new bronze oversized gears help obtain perfect timing by meshing to the camshaft gear properly.

MSD Chevrolet Distributors
+0.006� PN 8472
+0.009� PN 84722
+0.012� PN 84723
+0.015� PN 84724

5.0mustang5speed

what does lift have to do with dis gears? nothing..wtf..

Wessy

So is the bronze stronger than the steel? My local speed shop only sells the steel gear for chevy's or the bronze for ford.

69mach1377

The higher the lift, the more force is applied to the cam lobes, and the more force transmitted between the cam and distributor gears. This leads to more wear with the winner being the harder material. Given the choice of wearing out your cam gear or a replaceable distributor gear, made of a softer material like bronze, most would choose the latter.
That's wtf bart butt...show a little respect for basic physics.

69mach1377

I think they are saying that their bronze gears are stronger than other bronze gears and will last longer than other bronze gears. They are still sacrificial, instead of your cam gear and therefore your cam.