IM useing a 90 small cap distributor in my 406, with a flat tappet cam. Even though it was a roller cam before. Will this cause problems with gear or cam gear wear? I thought I read the gear was still compatible.

Anyone using this combo of distributor and gear long term with good results?

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90 IROC
SuperRamed 406
Trickflow 23* heads

 

Most aftermarket roller cams use a bronze gear (I think it's bronze ). GM did not do that on their factory cams. They used the same material that is used in the hyd. cams. That way they didn't have to worry about what dist. went with what cam, etc.

AJ

 

Glad to see this topic. Thats something I didnt even think about. I'm going to be swapping motors soon and my original motor is a roller. Will be using original distributor in a non-roller too.

 

As was mentioned earlier, I believe all stock distributor gears were the same so you can use the stock one with a non-roller cam. Doesn't work in reverse though because of the gear they put on aftermarket cams. If you put an aftermarket roller cam with one of those stock distributor gears it'll eat it up. It's a long-term effect.

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1986 Trans AM
355 TPI
4 Wheel Disc Brakes
9 bolt Borg Warner Rear (2.77's....oh joy) :P
6" rods, approx. 9.7:1 Compression, Stock TPI (soon to be ported), 24#/hr LTI injectors (cleaned and flowmatched by Cruizin Performance), Hedman Shorty Headers, 3" exhaust with 80 series flowmaster, SBC 993 heads completely redone and modified for 1.6 RR, 1.52 RR (for now), Comp Cams XE262-14 TPI Cam, Holley AFPR, TPIS airfoil, MSD wires, MSD 6-AL Ignition, Hypertech 53,000 volt coil.

Track times to come.

 

It depends on the material the cam is made out of, not whether it's a roller or not. If you have a cam that's made out of the same cast iron that stock ones are, both flat-tappet and roller, which includes nearly all street hydraulic rollers, then your stock dist gear will be fine. If you use a billet steel cam, with flat-tappet or roller, you need a bronze gear. Of course with a billet flat-tappet cam you also need lifters made from a different material; usually they're "chiled iron". If your cam uses regular lifters, then it will also use a regular distributor gear.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

GM did not use the same distibutor gear material on all years. They use what they call "melonized" gears on their roller cams because their roller cams are harder than their flat tappet cams, but not as hard as typical aftermarket roller cams have been.

But, there should be no problem with using a factory roller cam distributor gear on a flat tappet cam.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4, 2300 stall TC. Ported World 305 heads, Crane PowerMax 2050 cam. ZZ3/4 intake, oil pump, pan & baffle. Accel HEI SuperCoil & module. Hooker 2055 headers, 3" Catco cat & 3" catback w/dual-opposite Flowmaster 80. 2.93 limited slip. Spohn SFCs waiting to be installed. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily year-round driver. Best ET, speed TBD...
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7:1 forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Holley 750VS w/4150 conversion, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 700 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).

 

Thanks guys...IM trying to track down a cause of weak spark. My rotor seemed to move back and forth more than I thought it should. The gear has 200,000 miles on it guess it wouldnt hurt to change it.