What 1Ton is saying is excellent advice. US 235 motors used a fiber cam gear. It was used to reduce noise. The problem is that the fiber gears would let go, self destruct so to speak, and take some of the gear teeth off. Depending on the position of the cam at the time to gear let loose, you could end up with bent intake valves, among other damage. The repair is a big pain. Valve job and You either pull the motor and the cam, and replace the gear, or do the job in the chassis which was also a big giant pain. See the early Chilton's car manual (the blue version) wherein they lay out the procedure for replacing the gear in the vehicle.
On the other hand, because noise was not so much of an issue for the trucks, GM used an aluminum cam gear on the 261 Chevy truck motors. Now, you have a Canadian Pontiac passenger car block. That motor got a fiber gear for noise reduction. As it turns out, there is no discernable difference, at least that I have ever been able to hear, between the fiber gear and the aluminum gear. On the plus side, the aluminum gear is way stronger then the fiber gear. So for many many years now, the common wisdom is to use the truck gear set in a 235 or 261 rebuild. I am not even sure that you can get a new manufactured fiber gear set.
On your camshaft, 1Ton is also 100% correct. If you don't know what the material is, you will need to find out, or better yet, just get a new cam. They are not that expensive. If it turns out you have a cast cam, send it out and have it reground. Nice fresh cam and lifters. The other thing is, you should not (I would say you cant) mix the lifters up if you are going to be using a used cam and lifters. Each lifter must go back to the exact same cam lobe from which it was removed. Way too much risk in taking out a cam lobe by mixing them up. If in doubt, regrind. Also, and I have never done this myself, but at least one of the small cam grinders will also regrind solid lifters.
Last edited by Dragsix; 11/18/2020 3:32 PM.
