# Need help finding Delco Remy Distributor Gear



## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Hi Guys,
I am rebuilding my 1966 GTO distributor and was planning on replacing the gear. I am finding it difficult to find a replacement for the Pontiac (Delco Remy) original gear. It has the .491 bore, 14 tooth, with a 1/8" roll pin. Butler Performace only has one with a 3/16" roll pin, not 1/8". It seems the shaft is hardened and not a fun job to machine out to accommodate the 3/16" roll Pin. Ames only shows the bronze version and I have not confirmed roll pin size yet. I haven't found one at Summit Racing either.
Has anyone run into this and what gear did you buy??
Thanks for your help!
Greg


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Well I ended up drilling the shaft for a 3/16” roll pin. Much to my surprise it cut like butter. I would have thought the shaft was heat treated. It may be locally heat treated on the end where it engages with oil pump but it is surely not hard where I drilled it.


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## RMTZ67 (Mar 12, 2011)

If you are ever looking for anything nos or at least US made try Ebay first.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

chief65 said:


> Well I ended up drilling the shaft for a 3/16” roll pin. Much to my surprise it cut like butter. I would have thought the shaft was heat treated. It may be locally heat treated on the end where it engages with oil pump but it is surely not hard where I drilled it.


Bronze is not the best choice. They are softer than the stock steel gear and will wear quicker. You may want to pull the distributor periodically to check the wear. The bronze gear is designed for use with a billet/roller cam. If you have one, then you are OK. If you have a cast factory/replacement cam, then you'll want to watch it closely.

Quote, " MSD’s Brock emphasized,”contact the camshaft manufacturer to check which gear you should be using. If you are uncertain what camshaft is in the engine, your best bet is to run a bronze gear.” Crane’s Knight added,”the scariest thing is when a customer calls in asking for help selecting a distributor gear and they don’t know what kind of cam they have. Our coated-steel distributor gear works on virtually anything, *but under no circumstances should you use a bronze gear on a cast camshaft.*”


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## Old Man Taylor (May 9, 2011)

I ran a bronze gear on the 502 BBC in my truck. On my way to the races the engine died. The gear was gone. It had about 5000 miles on it. This was on a hydraulic roller cam.


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Thanks for the feed back guys! I am not going to run a bronze gear. I ended up using the Steel one I got from Butler and just machining my distributor shaft from 1/8” to 3/16” so the Butler one works fine. 
I went with the heavy duty NAPA Points CS786 and Heavy duty NAPA Condenser RR175. I have read a lot good about these online. I hope they are good. I was a Mallory guy but I have ran out of my old Mallory stock so trying NAPA. Anyone have any other good recommendations on points and condensers?
How about the Vacuum can? What are you guys using? In my Chevy days we used the “B28“ vacuum advance when you had a performance Chevy. The B28 advanced at low vacuum which helped with a good cam. Is this the same with Pontiacs?


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

chief65 said:


> Thanks for the feed back guys! I am not going to run a bronze gear. I ended up using the Steel one I got from Butler and just machining my distributor shaft from 1/8” to 3/16” so the Butler one works fine.
> I went with the heavy duty NAPA Points CS786 and Heavy duty NAPA Condenser RR175. I have read a lot good about these online. I hope they are good. I was a Mallory guy but I have ran out of my old Mallory stock so trying NAPA. Anyone have any other good recommendations on points and condensers?
> How about the Vacuum can? What are you guys using? In my Chevy days we used the “B28“ vacuum advance when you had a performance Chevy. The B28 advanced at low vacuum which helped with a good cam. Is this the same with Pontiacs?


OK on the steel gear. You can sometimes get NOS Delco Remy/GM points/condensors on Ebay which some use. NAPA usually has good Echlin brand parts, better than the other stores, so they should work good, I would not have an issue trying them.

You can try the B28 can. The best way is to set-up your entire ignition system from scratch, Initial timing, Total Timing, Total timing all in at "X" RPM's, and then add the vacuum advance - either direct to manifold or ported, but direct manifold vacuum is the way to go. This way you can tailor your advance curve to your engine and sometimes this will really wake up the engine once you have your ignition timing set to your engine needs. Just stay away from the engine damaging detonation.


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Thanks for input PJ!
So I finished the 66 GTO distributor. The guys at Butler were great!, returned my e-mails within hours as we worked thru the gear issue. As stated above, I just re-drilled my shaft for a 3/16" roll pin and solved the problem.
This distributor is for my 66 GTO but the engine for the 66 GTO won't be ready for a week or two so I decided to try it out and de-bug it in my 65 GTO. Good thing I did because the condenser had gone bad over the winter and the car would not start. This is the second Mallory condenser that I have had go bad, so no more Mallory! 
My 65 GTO is mostly stock; 389 Tri-Power 4 speed, 3.23 rear end, 068 cam, 18" Smithy mufflers, stock "77" heads and I run 90 octane ethanol free gasoline. Dwell is set at 30 degrees with heavy duty Mallory points. The new 66 distributor has the Moroso 72310 curve kit with the bronze bushing installed and I put the silver springs in to start. The mechanical advance adds 17-18 degrees at the crankshaft. I have the MSD tape on the 5 1/4 diameter flange. I set the initial timing at 15 degrees so I would get 32 degrees total without Vacuum. I attached vacuum line and went for a ride.. the car ran horrible, it has a huge stumble on acceleration and not much power. So I re-set timing to 7 Degree initial and went for a ride...better but still a hesitation. Total timing without vacuum advance is 24 degrees. Next I will remove bronze bushing and see if I can get more mechanical advance unless there is a better way?? Vacuum comes from a port on base of middle carburetor. Is this considered manifold or ported vacuum ?? Vacuum canister works good, starts to move at about 14" and holds vacuum for several minutes. Idle is about 650 rpm. Vacuum gauge reads 15" at 650 rpm.
Am I headed in the right direction? 
Greg


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Well after a lot of trial and error I finally got it dialed in. I ended up with no bushing on the mechanical advance and two bronze colored springs. Here are results where car runs the best.
12 degree - initial setting, 640 RPM, 14-15" vacuum, vacuum advance disconnected and plugged (actually attached to gauge).
27 degrees - 1500 RPM, no vacuum advance
27 degrees - 2000 RPM, no vacuum advance
32 degrees - 3000 RPM, no vacuum advance
Slowly Creeps to 36 if RPM goes higher than 3000 RPM
Hooked up vacuum advance and went for a ride. Car performed great!! Starts right up hot or cold. Great acceleration. I could not hear any detonation but with 18" smithy mufflers it is a little hard. I might dial it back 2 degrees and see how it goes. Is there a good to check for detonation other than by ear?


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