I kinda like it,when/if my stock points/pertonix lets go. Looks worth it to me??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CADILLAC-472-500-PRO-SERIES-Small-Cap-Black-HEI-Distributor-Coil-Spark-Plug-Wire-/191789428878?hash=item2ca78a708e:g:HrsAAOSwKtlWoqeY&vxp=mtr#ht_7638wt_663
Gear material STEEL????????? WTF I would not touch that thing.
What should it be made of? ???
I'll stick with my "Big Cap" HEI.
Mike
Quote from: Fins on April 07, 2016, 11:58:19 AM
What should it be made of? ???
Cast or malleable iron. The gear on a flat tappet cam is iron so a steel distributor gear would quickly wear it out.
Bronze I think is what stock is.
Some were but most were not.
Thanks CC. I learned something new today. :whoo-hoo:
Thats the Coolest F-ing thing about these forums.I am just a driver,end user.Only a mechanic or plumber by nescessity.
I read through all the US Flags about the wires and all the polishing and stuff.Missed the gear.Only reason I know about the gear is cause I had to use a slide hammer to get a distro out once,destroyed it.When my car was almost assembled.I drove out that little pin and cleaned out and reassembled the whole thing.It has to move free and be perfect or forget it.
I wonder how difficult it would be to swap out that bottom gear.I like the housing and the way the wires go on the cap compared to my old stocker.And of course that big boy stock integrated coil is tough on the early setup as you all know.
It is not hard to change the gear usually one tapered or roll pin holds it an iron gear will last almost forever a good bronze one a long time and a cheapo generic brass not long at all.
Maybe it has an iron gear and the vendor just doesn't know any better.
This is likely.
I get the theory...
but right now, strictly from memory of their appearance, :thinking: I have a hunch that the OE Cad gears are steel. :confused2:
One of these days we can get one in hand and give it at least a rudimentary test. :lookin:
Quote from: Denrep on April 08, 2016, 11:45:12 AM
I get the theory...
but right now, strictly from memory of their appearance, :thinking: I have a hunch that the OE Cad gears are steel. :confused2:
One of these days we can get one in hand and give it at least a rudimentary test. :lookin:
I have one on the shelf. Do I just take a magnet to it?
Magnet will stick to iron and steel but not brass or bronze or aluminum. So, determining cast iron or steel will have to be done visually unless you own a mass spectrometer.
Cast iron is heavier than steel but without one of each you how do you know what they would weigh?
Ol' fashion spark, chip, or flame tests would ID the material well enough for our purposes.
Quote from: Russ on April 08, 2016, 11:53:45 AM
Quote from: Denrep on April 08, 2016, 11:45:12 AM
I get the theory...
but right now, strictly from memory of their appearance, :thinking: I have a hunch that the OE Cad gears are steel. :confused2:
One of these days we can get one in hand and give it at least a rudimentary test. :lookin:
I have one on the shelf. Do I just take a magnet to it?
Missed that Russ. Cool.
Touch it to a bench grinder and compare results to spark chart.
Drill with a small sharp drill bit and see if the cut makes chips (iron) or shavings (steel).
There's more but these are easy and the least destructive.
I remembered I made a priming tool from an old dizzy. The machine shop shaved off the teeth on the gear, as the connecting point to the oil pump shaft is the bottom part of the gear. The surface where the gear teeth were, is nice and smooth.
Tool a magnet to it, and it sticks. Where is this so called spark chart? Goggle it?
I don't have time to do the drill bit test, as I'm heading out soon to pick up a 62 Fleetwood parts car.
If the machine shop "shaved" rather than "ground" the gear, and it's real smooth... sounds like steel.
I always figgered they were steel. Case hardened like a cam. Then coated to help run in. The updated HT4100 gears are like that.
Mike
The distributor gear must be softer than the cam gear by design since it is designed to be the replaceable wear part and the old flat tappet cams are case hardened iron so if the gear is steel it must be very soft steel.