Distributor Gear Type
 

I have just had my 68 400 engine rebuilt and used a hydraulic flat tappet cam - Mellings 068 cam that I purchased some 14 - 15 years ago. For peace of mind I had the cam nitrided and now there seems to be conflicting information regarding the type of gear for the distributor.
Some say it is ok to use the original distributor gear, others say to use either a melonized gear or a composite gear?
Now I am confused but don’t want to start the break-in with a gear that may lead to problems down the track.
Would there be any harm in using the original gear and change over if need be?
The logic behind this if a different gear is needed is as I live in Australia it is cheaper to purchase a new gear, if needed, from the USA but would like to break the engine in before if possible.
Appreciate any advice on what would be the most appropriate gear?
Thanks, Mark

You can use the factory type gear and will be fine.

I have been tempted buy a gear from this site and then order a hundred. Thank me later. LOL. https://www.dfwspeedsyndicate.com/pr...91-shaft-steel. Am I missing something?

The part you’re missing is that for less than $10 retail, how good can it actually be?

“You get what you pay for”.

But go ahead and buy a hundred of them if you like.

The stock gear will work fine and especially if you have oil galley plug that’s in front of it drilled with a .030” hole to directly oil both gears there.

If you more added insurance even if you do not have the added oil hole then take the time to polish over all the sharp gear edges on the cam.