Roller cam and bronze distributor gear

I got my 440 rebuilt and the builder used a Comp Cams 23-600-9 billet steel roller cam. He reused my original distributor gear.

Somone said if I don't use a bronze distributor gear then it will damage the billet cam's steel drive and cause all sorts of problems. Is this true or can I leave it alone?.

If not do I need distributor gear made out of bronze, or one that has been melonized?

A stock OEM gear will die young on your steel core solid roller camshaft.
I've used the bronze gears on several street and strip cars with no issues up to 3000 miles, others on here have had less luck on them
I bought several of melanized gears last year for both BB and SB Mopars, shop around to see if to see if you can buy one also

I can't seem to find melonized gears for Mopar, only brand X.

I found a bronze one and some sellers say it fits 383/400, only one seller says it fits 383/400/440. Comp Cams 424 .484" I.D. Bronze Distributor Gear for Chrysler B 383-400/426 HEM

The gear/pump drive are the same for all B/RB and hemi engines. If it fits a 400 it will fit all big blocks.

Hughes Melonized Distributor Gear

If he didn't use the bronze gear check to make sure he put the proper fuel pump pushrod in with a bronze tip also!
Ron

I have a used one for sale. I have had it out of the car since 93. I can't give you a number of how many miles are on it as I bought it already in the engine. I would estimate I put less than 500 miles on it from 88 -93. I don't think it saw much use from the previous own either. PM me if interested.

Don't use that stock intermediate shaft or a used gear of any type. As mentioned above, Hughes Engines sells the bronze gear and the melonized gear. With a new cam, I would use the melonized gear for longevity.

Make sure you use a distributor collar to limit the up and down movement of the gear. Left uncontrolled, the gear can move up and down too much, which really accelerates wear, especially on the bronze gear. Also check your intermediate shaft bushing for excessive play.

I have wondered if cryogenicly treating the bronze gear would be of any benefit, but have never tested that idea.

That's such an unbelievable rookie mistake I would be woried what else that "builder" did.

OP - Who / where is this builder? I'm also located in Northern Virginia. Thx

Also, I have a spare new 440 Source bronze gear on shaft , if you need one. However, I also recommend going w/ the Hughes (Crane) melonized gear, if they're still available.

I remember when Chance (or Chase) still worked at Crane. He told me they never had any problems or failures using a stock gear on Mopar roller cams when used with a regular oil pump. Said it was only when you went up to HP or HV did it cause problems.

I believe Crane used iron gears on many of the roller cams they made-pressed on I think?? This allowed the use of the stock intermediate shaft.

they did it on some chevy cams. not easy to do on mopar big block. there aren't any timing concerns when doing a pressed gear on a small block chevy.

if the cam was ran with an iron gear for any length of time i'd yank the cam for full inspection. if the gear on the cam has any damage it will probably wreck a bronze gear.

When I looked many years ago all the crane hydraulic rollers for small block Mopars had iron gears. I can't speak to what they did on big block Mopars.

It's the gear and rear journal that is pressed on. Good luck finding one now.