So a coupe of weeks ago I installed a new HEI Dist this was due to the fact that my 83 Dist. wore out and no one has a replacement one. Even Ford Mo CO says good luck. My old one has no wires at all going to it nor does it have any advance or adjustment. I have never seen this before. Granted I havent had a lot of contact with older fords. Anyway. I am taking it my 1983 Donkey has a Flat tappet cam in it and the New Dist I was sent what I see now is a steel Gear on it. I find this now to be a bad thing. I was driving down the highway humming along as my truck was running great getting better fuel milage then ever when I heard a backfire from hell followed by a few dozen more while traveling at 65. I got off the go fast pedal asap coasted to a stop. Pulled the dist. cap and turned the truck over using the solenoid behind the battery. The dist. didnt turn like it should so I reach over and I could turn the rotor by hand. I put the old one in just to see if it would work to get me home, as I didnt remove the Duraspark system. It spun normal for a sec. then does the same thing. I can turn it by hand as well.
I havent checked the cylinders but it turns over fine no funky sounds and no old in the water or water in the oil.
So I have no reference as to what the cam gear looked like but it doesn't look chipped up. Would it just wear the gear out.?
Also after checking to make sure I have not grenaded my engine or bent anything in the valve train.
Since I have a stock engine 2 Barrel carb and all the smog equipment. I do plan on at sometime going to a EFI setup
What CAM should I go with. I live in Denver so thin air is real. I do go into the mountains a lot.

Thanks in advance for any info

Chris

 

No one wants to offer help

 

May be nobody with the experience in that application has read your post or, can help.

What do you mean by being able to spin the rotor? It will turn 360° by hand?

 

If the new distributor did indeed have a steel gear, and you installed it with a "regular" non-steel cam, there is a good chance that the cam gear got ground up. Did you confirm it turning the dist shaft by hand? I think there is a normal gap in the dist shaft, which is spring loaded, so when you turn it CCW, it should spring back (can't remember how much). But if you can turn it a lot, and it doesn't return to its original position, then it's probably developed a lot of wear.

 

they I can spin the Dist shaft completely around on both the new and the old dist.

 

Yeah that's bad.

 

Dang 2016 going to go out with a bang, literally lol.
So what Cam do you think I should go with? Since I have a new Dist with what appears to be a steal gear with absolutely no wear on it I was thinking a Roller cam? Any opinions?
I realize that its a bit out of order of things to do to the motor since it has stock intake 2 barrel carb stock exhaust but I may just do the intake exhaust and cam at the same time. Im not looking to make it into a horse power beast but I do like a bit...

 

Going roller will cost you, but then again so will installing a flat tappet cam and have it go bad during the cam break-in. How long did you run this engine with the steel geared distributor before the cam went south ? If it took awhile, the crank, rod and cam bearings are probably toast. Even if not, I wouldn't pour money into it without pulling the engine and going through it after subjecting it to all that ground up metal flowing through the oiling system. As for a cam recommendation, I'd stick with something mild, not over a .510 lift and nothing over a 270* advertised duration. (or nothing over 230* @ .050. Also recommend a cam with a wide LSA, like what's used in EFI applications. These cams generate better vacuum in the lower RPM's this lets the carb's circuits respond quicker to throttle demands. You'll also get better fuel economy.

 

So going to a roller from a flat tappet how does that work out? I may have to start a go fund me to afford to rebuild this thing after looking at prices. LOL I built more then a few Chevys in my life so I know I can do the work, but half decent parts are pricey.

 

You an either use link bar hydraulic roller lifters which run around $300-400 a set but are used with a standard base circle cam's for 5.0's . Or use a reduced base circle cam and use the stock factory roller lifters and the tie down hardware . Either way costs about the same . Not sure what pushrods go with either setup, so you need to check out that aspect. The plus side with roller lifters is you can reuse them on other cams and there's no risk of a cam lobe failure during or after break-in that's been so common with flat tappet cams in the past 16 years.(poorly machined chinese lifters are the culprit here)

 

This is absolute least expensive place I've been able to find with the best brand. These are Morel brand. Morel Hydraulic Roller Link Bar Lifters Also, I would use a full base circle cam for a 5.0L like baddad said. That way it's also reusable for other motors whether they are factory roller cam or not. Besides the real reason I would use a full base circle cam is the lobe profile is able to be better designed.