mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

Most of you LT1'ers that have opted for a Billet cam had to take into consideration whether to use the Bronze gear (Now discontinued by Crane anyway since Crane is gone) or suffer excessive wear on the gear that is driven by the cam and turns the oil pump. I'd rather refer to it as the oil pump drive gear than the distributor gear but that's what the books call it.

Another source of gear excessive wear is opting for the HV Melling oil pumps. These pumps put a lot more load on the drive gear so they wear out frighteningly more quickly. I'd lost one otherwise perfect 355 motor because of this. I was in a 20mph school zone, driving my daughter to school when I heard a high pitched squeal. My daughter and I shot each other looks like, "wth was that?!", then I looked at my gauges. Whoops! Zero Oil pressure! I shut it off and pushed it out of the way. Peeling the motor apart found all teeth of the drive gear were gone. With the replacement 383 solid roller, I put in a bronze gear. Having to peel that motor apart 7 months later, that bronze gear was about a month away from also being toothless. Inquiries to various lists/BB revealed that most guys said, (a) don't use a HV pump and (b) use the polymer style drive gear.
I found the poly gear at Jegs but it is a .500 shaft size. The LT1 requires a .427 shaft. So, just like the guys said, "find a machinist to drill a bushing for it and make it a .427 shaft hole.

After ordering and dropping off at my machinists, viola! Here it is...






Don't know if you can see it but look how sharp the tooth edges of the Bronze gear are that I took out are compared to the composite.

stevo9389

if you don't mind, how much did a custom bushing like that set you back?

speed_demon24

iTrader: (6)

If the person you bought the cam from had the proper oil pump drive gear put on the cam none of that would have been a problem. It's not a problem with billet cams, its a problem with an improper gear on the camshaft. There's no reason it shouldn't last just as long if not longer than the stock setup.

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

$30.00, for the bushing, labor and tax.

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

Just for future reference, what does a customer ask for in the scenario you present below?
Example:
<Customer>"I need a turbo cam for a strip/strip car that with, all other things being commensurate, will yield about 600 rwhp. Oh.. the oil pump drive gear needs to be a <?????>"

I will mention that I get some of my used parts (LS1 Brake setup, spare LT1 intake, etc) from a shop here that is exclusively Fbody related and he has a shelf full of sheared tooth oil pump drive gears from various cars. Some with stock cams, some not stock. The stock cammed ones came from cars that had the HV oil pumps.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Bingo.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

http://cranecams.com/

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Ditto on "buy the right parts the first time"

So many of you "save" a little trusting the wrong folks then spend many times what you "saved" fixing the problems caused by cheaping out the first time.

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBullet...d.php?t=242741

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

Old stuff...
Here tis..
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/210484/

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

I love how some of you pompous jerks come on peoples threads, acting all high and mighty, throw some condescension in, but never leave any tangible information.

I've asked you a more than a couple of times what the so called 'right' part is. What Cam gear, what distributor gear. You never answer. Just saying 'the right part' is about conclusive as saying "That's not my favorite color..."

Keep on being worthless purveyors of your pointless submissions. I know you gotta be you.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Problem is you don't want the answer how to do it right. You want the answer about how to bandaid the mistakes you already made.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

I'm using the stock 100k mile oil pump drive on my 383, high volume pump and all.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

No. It's not old stuff. The link you posted is old stuff. Call the number tomorrow and you may be surprised.

pyro719

iTrader: (5)

Hmmm I wonder if my bullet billet cam is going to chew up my oil pump drive gear?

Burning Rubber

iTrader: (1)

Has anyone taken these composite gears out after some use and see what they look like? My LT1 has chewed up a couple gears, and I would like to know how well these composite gears work? If they work good I will be doing this mod.

stryker1320

iTrader: (3)

I can understand where you are coming from, but did you read the thread he posted? There was some good reading in there. Anyway, if you didn't catch it, read the last page on the link Dwayne posted. It just might answer your question.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

The answer is to buy good parts with the right gear.

The AI billet cams come with the right gear not a standard one. I have had no trouble in tens of thousands of miles and friends experiences are the same. One friend's car we cammed(AI package) at 165K miles, today the motor has over 200K on it, never changed the drive, though we did put a white spring in the pump.

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

There's no question stated in my initial post. I merely posted a solution for a problem.

mightyquickz28

iTrader: (8)

Aha... I only knew they went bankrupt and laid off everyone. I didn't check back periodically to see if they'd reopened (Understandably)

From the Official Crane Cam site...
"Performance industry icon Crane Cams has reopened under the new ownership of S&S Cycle, and is actively engaged in manufacturing and sales operations of its ignition and motorcycle lines. "

brucer

when you purchase a cam, i think the term you want to use is melonized gear, its been annealed/softened.