How do we know? Is this voodoo or something?

[Bronze Barracuda]

Alright so I paid $110 for a 1 7/8" gear, before tax and shipping.
How does one know if we're getting what we pay for? Or for that matter is it really even necessary?
Case in point. We go out and try to avoid the modern day scary pitfalls of flat tappet cams and lifters. So we decide to build a roller engine. So ya order your cam, of which there are hundreds of options from different manufacturers to different profiles etc. But then ya find out ya gotta order some "voodoo" type of distributor gear. Either bronze or brass, really I'm not even sure of the metallurgy. What's the difference between bronze and brass? Or a "melonized" gear!? So here's where my primitive brain gets a wondering!
If there are so many manufacturers out there building roller cams, (of which almost all of them are billet) then why the heck don't they offer a distributor gear/shaft to go along with it!?

So I layed out the dough and got the gear (of which there are limited supplies and hard as heck to find) Only to find that there are no current suppliers of oil shafts, which the gear gets mounted on. So now you have to source an oil shaft seperate it from it's original gear then take your new Voodoo melonized gear to a machine shop cause yer to afraid to mess up the depth of which ya set the gear onto the shaft. While all the while trying to figure out, is this gear really any different or is this all just a bunch of Voodoo!

Can anyone tell the difference between the factory gear and the new "melonized" gear!

Next build I'm taking my chances with the "sketchy" old school flat tappet hydraulic cams and lifters! I'll never build a roller again unless I'm building a top fuel dragster or ronudy round!

 

[mbaird]

I think You could use your old shaft if it was a ”pinned” style . Punch the pin out and press the old gear off of the shaft .

Good point about why don’t more cam manufacturers make them .

You could have gone with a hydraulic roller. Most don’t require a bronze gear .

 

[Bronze Barracuda]

I think You could use your old shaft if it was a ”pinned” style . Punch the pin out and press the old gear off of the shaft .

Good point about why don’t more cam manufacturers make them .

You could have gone with a hydraulic roller. Most don’t require a bronze gear .

Yeah, just venting I suppose.
From what I've read so far is that the bronze shafts are more or less a wear part, designed to be replaced every 1500 miles or so. (Which is not a reality for a street vehicle) Mainly for racing and off road etc. So the only alternative is this so called melonized gear that will work for long term street use.
I think the bigger question is why do street use aftermarket cams need to be billet? Same thing with building a street motor and using a regular volume oil pump. The HV pump is not needed for street use. A billet cam is not needed for a street engine.

PS almost all new roller cams are billet!

 

[AJ/FormS]

Same thing with building a street motor and using a regular volume oil pump

I disagree.
It allowed me to send extra oil to:
1) my top-end to cool the HD springs, which were required to keep the valves running on the hi-lift lobes for the past 100,000 miles. and
2) to keep the aluminum rocker arms from galling. and
3) the roller tips from exploding. and
4) the Timing chain to prevent it from prematurely wearing out
5) and I have a clutch, so extra oil to the Thrust bearing,
6) oh and I sent some over the sides of the heads to run into the general vicinity of the flat-tappet cam lobes. That 276/286/110 cam is over 20 years old now , and it was originally set up with a half-turn of preload. A couple of lifters are ticking now, but I'm in no hurry to pop the covers ...... cuz I know the valvegear is well-oiled.
7) not to forget the oiling mods required to survive 7200rpm. and
8) Engine has not been apart since 2004.

Can I credit the HV pump for all that?
IDK, but

 

[A56]

Click and watch Ed Smith about HV oil pumps

 

[Icetech]

Not really voodoo, i called my cam company (howards) and asked what drive i need for this cam, they said bronze so i bought a pump shaft with the gear on it. I do get your frustration though.

 

[Bronze Barracuda]

I disagree.
It allowed me to send extra oil to:
1) my top-end to cool the HD springs, which were required to keep the valves running on the hi-lift lobes for the past 100,000 miles. and
2) to keep the aluminum rocker arms from galling. and
3) the roller tips from exploding. and
4) the Timing chain to prevent it from prematurely wearing out
5) and I have a clutch, so extra oil to the Thrust bearing,
6) oh and I sent some over the sides of the heads to run into the general vicinity of the flat-tappet cam lobes. That 276/286/110 cam is over 20 years old now , and it was originally set up with a half-turn of preload. A couple of lifters are ticking now, but I'm in no hurry to pop the covers ...... cuz I know the valvegear is well-oiled.
7) not to forget the oiling mods required to survive 7200rpm. and
8) Engine has not been apart since 2004.

Can I credit the HV pump for all that?
IDK, but

That's quite the street motor you have there
Makes a lot of sense to have a HV pump on that engine.
My motor will never see 7200 RPM
Had over 300000 miles on it without a HV pump before the rebuild, probably could have gone another 100000.

 

[Bronze Barracuda]

Not really voodoo, i called my cam company (howards) and asked what drive i need for this cam, they said bronze so i bought a pump shaft with the gear on it. I do get your frustration though.

Thanks I have a Howard's cam as well. While they didn't recommend bronze to me they did answer my 2 questions. 1 is it a billet cam.
2 should I use a melonized distributor gear with it.
The answer to both questions was yes.
While trying to figure out if I should use a bronze gear vs melonized, I found lots of contradiction with bronze gears. Mainly to do with them being a wear part. But everything regarding the melonized gears was pretty much agreed on, that they last pretty much forever. Now forever is a long time, but the gist of it was that they do last.
How many miles do you have on yours? How's it holding up?
Thanks.

 

[Icetech]

Thanks I have a Howard's cam as well. While they didn't recommend bronze to me they did answer my 2 questions. 1 is it a billet cam.
2 should I use a melonized distributor gear with it.
The answer to both questions was yes.
While trying to figure out if I should use a bronze gear vs melonized, I found lots of contradiction with bronze gears. Mainly to do with them being a wear part. But everything regarding the melonized gears was pretty much agreed on, that they last pretty much forever. Now forever is a long time, but the gist of it was that they do last.
How many miles do you have on yours? How's it holding up?
Thanks.

I have .5 mile on mine.. still building the car.. it has like 20 mins of run time. Mine is billet also... at the time i couldn't find melonized and i also just wanted a whole drive to drop in, not just a gear..