Technical Flathead cams and ignitions

Picked up a 49-53 short block at an estate sale. Seems like the gear at the front of the cam is broken off. Offy makes a gear to bolt on to the front of 48 down cams to run the later cover and ignition. I'm sure I can figure it out, but what have others done in this situation? Clearance issues, spacers, etc. Thanks Randy

 

Do you mean the distributor drive gear is gone? If it were me I would go the straight forward route and just replace whatever is missing. The drive gear just presses on. If the cam itself is damaged no problem pop a new one in there. But Im sure theres other ways to skin that cat should you be so inclined.

 

Well, the piece that the gear presses on is broken off too, making it resemble a 48 down cam. Was wanting to save it as it's a new but damaged Isky unit. Yes, I could replace it. Thanks for the comment

 

How about a pic.

 

Adding this to the end of your cam may make the dist. gear stick out too far. Easy to check with your 8BA front cover.

 

Fixing that is very possible. It will involve some machine work and changing front cover and ignition.
It can also be fixed with the adapter pictured above. If the adapter is used, a hole needs to be drilled through the center for oiling the gears. The face of the cam may need to be cut back slightly depending on the drive gear location.
It might be cheaper to find another cam.

 

Since it is an 8BA block,,,,,shouldn’t you just use an 8BA cam and cover and distributor?
Like Pete suggested,,,,probably easier and more cost friendly to put in a new cam .

Tommy

 

Thanks for the responses. I will measure and evaluate.