Comp Cams hyd roller ?

Does a Comp Cams hyd roller require a bronze distributor drive gear? Thanks.

I think you need to call Comp or look at the cam card since it varies by engine and cam core. Some do and some don't. I think the BB Mopar core always requires a bronze gear but the SB one might not. Other engines are yes or no.

Comp says it does. Cost almost just as much for a hyd street roller install as a flat out solid roller. My first experience with a hyd roller.

And then there’s this:

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread...ted-steel-oil-pump-gear.html#Post2659413

I'm bewildered as to why hydraulic (or any) roller has to be billet instead of cast like factory cams. I understand that insane spring pressures might be marginal with a cast but for the milder grinds why not cast?

More than one person here has had issues with Comp hydraulic roller lifters, FYI.

For what's it worth, here is part of the response I got from one the CompCams Cam Tech folks (beyond the front-line phone support, we went through no less than 5 separate emails regarding this particular cam I picked up) as I inquired regarding the custom ground hydraulic roller cam for my SB:



The cam gring in question is XR292HR.

Not to derail the thread but probably 20 years ago the Turbo Buick community was subject to a cast iron roller cam fiasco. These were typical Turbo Buick mild grind cams (208-210) that were apparently made from an OEM cam style cast iron. They all failed, and in short order. Now depending on the base material a camshaft could be heat treated to live in this environment, but the material and heat treatment would need to be designed from the hit, not an afterthought.

Is your cam a steel billet core or a cast core cam?

To further muddy the waters, didn't Comp make some 2-piece cams where the lobe section is billet and the gear end is cast? I'm pretty sure I have a new one in the shed, I'd have to look.

I don't think anyone has ever made a Mopar two piece camshaft, for Chevy and Fords ,yes

Seems like I'm not the only one that has/had one... I'll try to get a pic of it soon

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2297726.html

Thanks for the link, I called Comp several years ago about having a BB solid roller cam made with a cast front with the oil pump drive gear and they told me no way back then
Maybe it is time to try again

Might be worth a try but I will say this, the cam I have (for a small block) has been discontinued by Comp.

Two piece cores were used for 360-380 and 390 Mopar Performance 5.9 magnum based crate engines.

They were a billet steel front with cast gear and rear bearing journal chopped off and pressed + pinned on.
Someone made a few dollars doing lathe and press work.

I believe comp ground them for mopar, 288/292 .501/.513 108 or something pretty close to that was the specs.

I found evidence to support the thought that Comp purchased the cores from Crane
but back at the time I chased it, I could never actually prove it (it is a tangled web).

Unfortunately the one I had on the shelf somehow got wet and developed some nasty rust on a few lobes, and I scrapped it.
It was brand new. I wasn't happy about that at the time. By now, it's probably a Toyota crankshaft or something.

So that's how they got away with a standard drive gear on the crate motors.

But, here's the thing....the 3.9 v6 had no end of drive gear problems and popular belief is, Chrysler went to melonized on that engine after
a certain year to repair the myriad of issues. Then later, the magnum v8s also got the melonized gear. I can't recall the exact year.
But I found evidence to support the idea that near the end of the run for 5.2-5.9, they all had melonized. The engineering community
didn't know about it, as everyone who worked on that had moved on by the time I started working on it.
There are moparts members who know a little something about this, who contacted me around the same time asking questions about it.
They can say something if they want, I am not going to call them out because it's a bit of a gray area with not much documentation
available.

all these gyrations may have been unnecessary had the melonized gear been pointed to and testing been done,
and then a little information shared.

Is there any way to identify these Melonized gears either at the junkyard or as a new part from Mopar?

I'm running the 286HR10 cam, Hughes Lifters, Isky 8005A Valve springs, Comp retainers, and bronze oil pump drive gear.

I thought the hydraulic would be quieter than a solid, but not really as the roller valve train seems to have its own sound.
The engine I just finished building, I just used a mild solid roller cam, and slightly higher valve spring pressure so I don't have to worry about limiting the engine RPM like with the hydraulic cam and lower spring pressure.