Ok…that makes more sense. It appears the Hyperspark comes with a cast gear, but should use a Bronze or Melonized gear for a roller cam.
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Ding, ding ding. That’s exactly right.
Schneider doesn’t indicate the material for its Cleveland hydraulic roller cam, but its Big Block Chevy version is billet steel. Apparently most roller cams are billet.
The Holley Hyperspark distributor uses cast iron gears, for which billet steel is too hard. They’d not last long, especially on a Cleveland, in which the distributor also drives the oil pump, Cleveland engines put more load on the distributor gear than many other engines.
That’s why Holley instructs Hyperspark installers to consult the camshaft manufacturer prior to installation to confirm what distributor gear material they require.
For Steel Billet cams Schneider recommends Aluminum-Bronze distributor gears.
The MSD distributor the Holley Hyperspark replaced had steel melonized gears, so it survived longer.
The shop checked to make sure that the distributor depth and gear type is compatible with the engine based on the old distributor. Since the MSD distributor did not have bronze gear they assumed all would be well with the Hyperspark’s stock gear. That’s proceeding on the basis of what the shop who had my car for four years did, and who put the rod ties on backward.
Except for this one mistake I think the shop did a good job, these Holley Sniper 2 systems are complicated, and inherently contain a lot of potential mishaps. I think I’d be hard pressed to find a more skillful shop.
Now it’s back to the shop for warranty repair. The only problem is it’s 131 miles back to the shop, the tow will cost $700 and we haven’t resolved who’s going to pay what for that. Should I not have driven it out of the area during its initial shakedown? I did have business (I wanted to take it to interior shops for estimates).
Unfortunately the gear will deposit shards of metal through the engine making a rebuild necessary. This is bad and a sign the shop doesn’t know what they are doing. Good luck.
This issue doesn’t have anything to do with the Sniper setup itself, but instead understanding differences in flat tappet / roller cams and impacts to distributor gear choices…that’s pretty basic.
I would have kept the car local for a few hundred miles after a big change. You should probably check on having a towing clause on your insurance to cover stuff like this. I know Hagerty has it.
Good luck and hope the shop takes care of you. I’d push for at least part of the tow bill.
I could see how that could happen with your scenario of two different shops working on your car. Yes the distributor gear is a very important part to get right and holly puts all kinds of warnings on the distributor that you can not miss to remind you to check it but sounds like the shop did what they could to confirm compatibility based on what information they had.
I would not expect them to cover the tow bill however, but I would ask for help with it. Maybe split it?. Classic car insurance has towing included in alot of cases as well so check on that.
Personally I would have kept it close to home to work out any bugs, unlike a normal repair you made alot of upgrades and changes which opens up the protentional for some gremlins to pop up.
I guess I should have allowed for more close-to-home shakedown. It wasn’t a joyride, however, I was returning to where I live/work during the week. Shops often boast of the distance from which their customers come, and I’ve never heard of any advising trailering on the way back.
I selected towing on my car insurance. I’m going to pay for the tow and submit it, it’s a legitimate tow because the local shop isn’t equipped to do the repairs (and they attested to that on their receipt). Whatever the insurance doesn’t pay I’ll split the difference with the shop.
Here’s pics of the distributor and gears.
A case of severe tooth decay!
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Can’t fault putting miles on after paying for all the work to be done. I just know how things go when doing this level of changes and like to roadtest close to support as possible.
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There is a sense that you can just select options from a menu and those options are going to play well with each other. I wish that were the case. You really have to become the engineer and make a thousand parts work as an harmonious whole. This is hard stuff.
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Saying that you need a complete rebuild is a little premature. If you had a high quality oil filter that was rarely in bypass mode, you should be fine. As someone that endured 3x failure of a thrust bearing without damage to main or rod bearings due to a high quality Motorcraft fl1a, it’s worth inspection, not complete disassembly.. I can assure you I had more debris than you will from a distributor and cam gear
If we could organize this kind of gathering again, that would be awesome! We could put faces to the names and really build on our cohesive community! The Scottsdale Barrett Jackson time would be the perfect place and time, and weather! I’m sure there would be alot of people make the trip…. I know I would..
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This Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Cougar gathering would be January 2027? That’s 750 miles for me, hopefully by then my improved Cougar with bronze distributor gear will have earned long-trip confidence. Also, I better join AAA.
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The CCOA and associated regional clubs have events all across the country. They are a great place to meet up with fellow Cougar enthusiasts.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
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