distributor gear worn?

[mr408]

G'day i recently had my 351w rebuilt but i went to a 408 stroker , i reused the same distributor(MSD) and cam (comp cam xr280r) from previous motor as they looked like new , after assembly took it for a drive on the freeway and after about 160miles , I lost all power , pulled over , she wouldn't start , took the distributor cap off, rotor button wouldn't spin while trying to start , got it towed to work shop , pulled the distributor off and the distributor gear was worn out , why would it be okay in the old motor for two years with no problem , same block same cam same distributor same inlet manifold , BUT , my engine builder fitted a high volume oil pump to this engine where as i had a standard oil pump on the old engine , could the extra load on the distributor gear from the HV oil pump cause the quick wear on dist gear( steel gear) would there be much damage to the cam gear , your thoughts would be appreciated
cheers chris.

 

[calpolymustang]

what material is the gear?

brass?
iron?
steel?

steel tends to be the only long term solution for roller cams. except for compcams composite gear for $120
when i went to roller, i changed my iron gear to a steel msd gear

 

[mr408]

It had a steel gear on there.

 

[woodsnake]

Small block Fords have an excellent oiling system, and do NOT need a high volume oil pump. I would say that yes, that was a contributing factor to your distributor gear failure...
Cleveland's are known for for week oil systems, 260-351W not so much...

 

[rbohm]

the high volume oil pump is what contributed to the excessive gear wear. replace the gear and the oil pump. use a stock volume oil pump. also remember when installing the distributor to use plenty of a good assembly lube on the gear to make sure you have proper lubrication when starting the engine again.

 

[mr408]

Thanks guys , its amazing that i did 10 minutes of research and came to the conclusion that the HV oil pump put extra load on the dizzy gear and killed it , yet this so called engine buider who built this engine didn't relise this , lets just say im a little annoyed
cheers chris.

 

[2+2GT]

Strange, I have 200,000 miles on a TRW HV pump, driven by an even older OEM C5OF-E distributor, still working perfectly.