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I've got an 86 5.0 EFI. I'm not positive, but the engine may not be an original. The distributor is shot and I need to buy a replacement.
Every parts store that I have talked to says they need to know if it is a steel gear or a cast iron gear on the distributor. I can't very well remove the distributor to check. This is a daily driver and I need to keep the downtime to a minimum.
From what I have researched thus far, the type of gear depends on the type of cam (I.E. Roller Cam vs. others). MSD distributor uses a steel gear for a roller cam, cast iron for other.
Is there anyway that I can identify the type of distributor gear based on the motor (year/application) or an identifying feature on the exposed part of the distributor.
If I had to guess right now I would say 86-93 has a steel gear and 94-95 uses a cast iron gear based on information I found on the MSD Ignition website. I was looking at the Pro-Billet distributors. Actually I'll probably be going with a Stock Distributor when I replace this thing.
Blurry94
Good Call. It is a cast iron gear.
Finally found someone locally who new more about it as well. Mustangs got the roller cam that early, but not the trucks.
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