Ok, as i dive further down the rabbit hole on my car, theres a new issue. Last week I removed the intake to reseal it, hoping that was the cause of my idle issues, and found more. Ifound that the rocker arms were very sloppy on the shaft and no one was able to tell me exactly how much play there should be in them. While looking at the oil pump drive shaft I found the gear was worn almost through the teeth. I'm using a mopar purple cam. Now I know that the slop there and the rockers must add up to enough to really throw all the timing in the engine off. Is this normal for the pump gear to wear this far? Is the bushing worn? Does the gear need to be shimmed for proper alignment? Where do I start?

 

What year car is this again? Old mopar v-8's had solid lifter camshafts (like 67 and earlier 318's and most slant sixes) these will have some play and have adjustable rockers. No the gears should not be worn through.
If those gears are that worn you might as well pull the motor and go through it cause that metal had to go somewhere. Pictures helpful to tell.
Are you talking about the gears of the oil pump or the gears on the cam/dizzy.

Question for forum: Is a solid cam compatible with a hydraulic dizzy [gear]? Or vice-versa?
Id like to see it to get a better idea of what your looking at.

 

It's a 69 or 70 block with shaft mount rockers. The worn gear is the on on the dist/oil pump shaft at the cam. Cam gear looks good with slight wear. The gear is steel. On one side of the dist. gear, the teeth look normal, on the opposite side they are worn to a knife point. Pictures soon.

 

383 engine, I think 69 or 70. That sounds like the best thing yet, just assumed things were straight. Good idea, I'll check the trueness of things tomorrow. I'm back from layoff this week so I can abuse the guys in the toolroom for their skills. I work at the Avenger/ Sebring plant, been laid off for half this year so far. Thanks for the advice! BTW factory distributor and ignition.

 

They made steel and brass oil pump drive gears. Make sure you using the correct material for your cam. I replaced my stocker with a new steel unit frm 440Source. The comp cam I installed also required a steel oil pump drive gear- so I should be good. I also lubricated the hell out of it with assembly lube so it works well when she turns over for the first time. Definately check straightness of the shaft- that may be your problem.