Aftermarket Aluminum FE Blocks

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Here's a dumb somewhat related question. Won't the bronze distributor gear for roller cams wear out and potentially ruin any block, if not checked? Not that replacing a bronze distributor gear is surgery for an aluminum FE, but it would seem that a failure could ultimately reduce the chance of a "high mileage" aluminum FE.

Bronze gears are "self-sacrificing" with your roller cam. They need to be changed out every so often, but that's not a big deal. I'm pretty sure most of the builders switched over to the Poly-Composite Gears years ago, which last much longer. If you have a PC gear in your FE, it will probably last the life of your car while you are driving it. Now, that's not true for Rick Lake, but I think it would be for you. But marking and pulling the distributor and eyeballing the gear next to a brand new one that you have in your hand is not a difficult job. It's just one bolt, and less than a half-hour total. If you do have to actually replace the gear have your machine shop do it for you. As I recall, you have the MSD billet distributor and I'm pretty sure that MSD puts an extra-fat pin in there as well. If I'm wrong on that, I'm sure I'll get corrected....

EDIT -- And "No," a stripped gear, or broken pin, doesn't usually result in the engine getting ruined. The engine stops and your natural instinct is to throw in the clutch and coast over. There is usually no damage.

[RICK LAKE]

RodKnock A bronze gear is designed to wear out on a roller camshaft DEPENDING on a couple of things
#1 endplay on the distributor shaft
#2 what oilpump you are running and if it's a HP or HV or both. Standard pump is the easies to drive unless its blue printed, coated and the gears ride on bearings. There are also 2 different types of pumps Geo gear pump and straight gear pump. I have not seen a test on which one causes less wear and stress on the distributor gear and shaft.
#3 End play of the camshaft will prewear out the distributor gear if to much
#4 No oil in the gear to gear contact location Dry on Dry. Some motors have an oil sparyer setup to help this, and not rely on splash or mist in the block.
#5 The hole in the motor block being centered to the camshaft bore, this helps keep everything at a 90 degree angle or a little less because of drive rotation. Some guys also use a bearing here for the distributor to ride on.
#6 Spring pressures and camshaft profile on the lift also help increase wear.
Rod as far as the poly gear I have, it's only got about 30 hours of motor race time on it and I have added oiling to this location to help control wear on the gear. I also have to be careful with leeting the motor warn up on it's own before doing any thing. Cold pressure on a hot track day is in the 110-120 psi on startup. It gets to 130 on cooler days. I am pushing that gear hard. So far there is no wear on the gear. You can just start to see a little( and I mean little contact point) on the gear. This is with a crane hydro roller camshaft. I do limit my motor to 6,200 rpms also Max is 6,500 rpm. IMO these are the max long term rpms for longer life of any motor but an overhead cam one. I don't know how long this gear will last, but have done everything I can to extend the life of this part except for the torington bearing for it to ride on.
I have one suggestion, I you have MSD igntion system in the car, BUY a complete spare setup and carry it with you in a bag and the basic tools you need to repair it. Mostly I see the carbon center burn or fall out of the cap. Sometimes see a hole in the center of the rotor. All this is easy to fix on the side of the road. once the motor cools off. Hand soap or gloves also throw into the bag. Just remember where the rotor was pointing and the housing was positioned. It will not be perfect but will get you home instead of on the hook or rollback. I have seen a few frontends get chewwed up from being put on roll backs. Rod on a side note, I think you need to stop getting crazy over how many miles the motor lasts without being rebuilt. It's 90% on how you drive and abuse the car, just like the brakes,tires, and clutch. All wear out items to protect the most expensive parts. Motor, trans, rearend, and your wallet.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

RodKnock ... BUY a complete spare setup and carry it with you in a bag and the basic tools you need to repair it. ... All this is easy to fix on the side of the road. once the motor cools off. Hand soap or gloves also throw into the bag. Just remember where the rotor was pointing and the housing was positioned. It will not be perfect but will get you home instead of on the hook or rollback.

The day RodKnock can pull his distributor by the side of the road, replace any part in it, and then get the car to run is the day I hop a flight to CA and dance buck-naked on the hood of his car with a rose clenched between my teeth.

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The day RodKnock can pull his distributor by the side of the road, replace any part in it, and then get the car to run is the day I hop a flight to CA and dance buck-naked on the hood of his car with a rose clenched between my teeth.

I might even pay to see that...well maybe not.

[PANAVIA]

Originally Posted by Woodz428

I might even pay to see that...well maybe not.

I will gladly teach him to Field-Strip his FE in 30 seconds.

--in other technical news;

The key to aluminum block success is its consistency to obey the designed specification.

== which requires the correct casting atmospherics and unwavering process.

I had the good fortune to speak with a gentleman who went over to the UK in the early 1980s as a manufacturing consultant.

he found unacceptable humidity levels in their casting area , which lead to porosity in the castings.

The other things found were castings being removed from molds before they were cool.

this lead to core shift or misshapen blocks.

I do think that cottage industry has given us options we thought were gone (new FE blocks) it needs to be tread with caution, and double checking.

Steve

[undy]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The day RodKnock can pull his distributor by the side of the road, replace any part in it, and then get the car to run is the day I hop a flight to CA and dance buck-naked on the hood of his car with a rose clenched between my teeth.

Now if that ain't a visual, TMI at it's finest..

[RICK LAKE]

Patrickt Pat you have little FAITH in people. It must be from being an officer of the courts and seeing what you see for so long.

Rodknock, I got $20.00 on you. As far as Pat dancing on your hood, ONly if he is going to repair the hood cracks and paint from the DANCE. By the way, I DON'T want to see the pictures. Rick L. Ps Rod if you played with an erector set you can do a distributor swap.

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

Patrickt Pat you have little FAITH in people. It must be from being an officer of the courts and seeing what you see for so long.

Rodknock, I got $20.00 on you. As far as Pat dancing on your hood, ONly if he is going to repair the hood cracks and paint from the DANCE. By the way, I DON'T want to see the pictures. Rick L. Ps Rod if you played with an erector set you can do a distributor swap.

Rodknocks hood is painted? I always thought he had polished it.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The day RodKnock can pull his distributor by the side of the road, replace any part in it, and then get the car to run is the day I hop a flight to CA and dance buck-naked on the hood of his car with a rose clenched between my teeth.

Well, first, I would never allow anyone to dance on my hood, buck-naked or not. Second, Patrick is right. The probability of me, being able to replace my distributor and the Digital 6 on the side of the road is so infinitesimally small, that you may see pigs fly first. A man has to know he own limitations.

Rick, I'm not obsessing over the mileage of an aluminum block, but seeing if I can prove or refute the theory brought up by someone over on the SAAC Forum.

Thank you for your thoughtful response on the distributor gear. It seems to me that there are so many other variables besides the mere fact that a block is aluminum where the mileage may never reach this 8,000-10,000 figure before an engine needs some sort of "open surgery."