I was cruising along and all the sudden my engine quit. The injectors weren't firing so the car had no fuel to start or run. I thought it was electrical, but upon removing teh distributor I found out that the distributor gear was grinded off. How did this happen??!! I did have a high rpm run today - about 5500 rpms. Did the distributor jump up or something? Is the gear designed to shred first so that my cam doesn't get screwed up? Hopefully no metal parts got into anything!!! what do you guys think I should do? What's a good replacement??

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88 firebird formula
350 Vortec TBI
214int/224exh, .471int/.491exh
Edelbrock headers
SIX-speed
Eats LS1's with a 2.73 open rear and 2 1/4 stock catback

My Formula

Come on, someone has got to have heard of this and know what to do.

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88 firebird formula
350 Vortec TBI
214int/224exh, .471int/.491exh
Edelbrock headers
SIX-speed
Eats LS1's with a 2.73 open rear and 2 1/4 stock catback

My Formula

Were you using a bronze dist. gear? I'm assuming you have a steel billet aftermarket cam.

The distributor I was using was the stock one. The cam is a crane. What's the advantage to the bronze gear?

A steel camshaft requires a bronze gear. Cast iron cams can still use a stock gear. What cam number did you use?

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Stephen's racing page

87 IROC-Z Pro ET Bracket Race Car and knocking on the SuperPro ET class
383 stroker (carbed) with double hump cast iron heads and pump gas
LS6 Big Block buildup now in progress

Best results before the engine blew up
Best ET on a time slip: 11.857
Best corrected ET: 11.163
Best MPH on a time slip: 117.87
Best corrected MPH: 126.10
Best 60 foot: 1.662

Racing at 3500 feet elevation but most race days it's over 5000 feet density altitude!

Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

[This message has been edited by Stephen 87 IROC (edited October 23, 2000).]

I'm not sure what the number of the cam is, but why does a steel cam require a bronze gear? What is the stock gear made of? Can the stock one be used dependably with a steel cam? I've been running it for about 2000 miles, but yesterday I reved it up to about 5700(for the first time) and I think the distributor jumped around.

No, for a steel cam you need a bronze gear or some other alloy recommended for steel cams. So do you have a steel cam? If so, that's likely your problem.

Ok, I UNDERSTAND that a steel cam requires a different gear, BUT WHY? What is the difference?

I guess the stock distributor gear doesn't have the right properties to mate with steel (e.g. - too soft or ductile), but I can't give you an exact answer. Maybe Vader knows?