Comp roller cam 35-349-8 austempered ductile iron - what distributor gear?

[rjrobin2002]

So I ordered a new cam for an explorer 5.0 "Comp 35-349-8", and this is an efi specific cam.

I went to order a distributor and assumed I needed a forged steel gear like the factory roller Ford cams use.

But Comp shows these roller cams are made from "austempered ductile iron"

So does this mean a whole bunch of ford guys are gonna be chewing up their Comp cam gears with their factory forged distributor gears?

 

[blubuckaroo]

Always ask the cam manufacturer which gear to use. There are no absolutes.

 

[rjrobin2002]

I did, the first guy was an ass and not helpful and gave me no confidence.

So looks like a "melodized ductile iron gear" is best, but the steel factory is OK". I went with the hardened iron.

"The core material is an austemper cast ductile iron. In simple terms, it's a dense iron cast into a core that goes through a heat treat process called austempering. This makes the material hard enough to run a roller lifter on it without damaging the cam core, but it is not as hard as a billet cam. This also makes the cam gear the same material and compatable with a cast iron gear or a factory roller distributor gear."

So us efi guys need to be aware comp efi cams are not billed steel like the factory fords.

 

[rjrobin2002]

I figured I didn't want to run a harder distributor gear than my cam even though they said it was OK and went with the melodized cast iron.
I would rather my distributor gear wear.

Figured I would post some new info for the already foggy cam gear info with a new roller cam steel out there now.

 

[blubuckaroo]

The other way around, Sig Erison mad their flat tapped cams from steel. You needed a steel dizzy gear. Very confusing. If it were mine, I’d call Comp Cams back. Maybe you’ll get better help. Lots of the tech help is working from home. It’s a mixed bag.

 

[rjrobin2002]

Comp said use cast, so that's what I got.

 

[rjrobin2002]

According to them you can use either. Craziest thing I ever heard.