I have two quick questions??...

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1. Did the 351C have a valley pan??

Yes, commonly called a Turkey Pan. Whether to use it or not seems to be about a 50/50 division. I personally hate the damn thing and do not use it. Good FelPro printo-seal intake gaskets and a quality RTV silicone for the valley ends works fine. I center punch dimples into the block and intake valley ends to provide better adhesion for the RTV. One of the common stated reasons for using the Turkey Tray is it keeps hot oil from collecting on the bottom of the intake, raising your air intake temperature. I find that to be most likely very minimal, especially as our engine compartments are so damn hot anyways. They also say that same oil will carbonize when long-term baked and drop crap into your oiling system. I pulled off my intake with about 30K miles on it, no Turkey Tray, and ZERO carbonized oil. Do a search for Turkey Tray and you will become totally confused as to which method to use. This is a personal choice issue.

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Does anyone know a vendor for a melonized steel dist gear

Not sure of your term 'melonized'. In any case, there has recently been a long thread on dizzy gears on the POCA forum. The steel gears are just about unobtanium now. Not an easily solved issue. Glad I'm not stuck with that issue - now, at least.

Larry

Thanks Larry... My head is spinin' man... I have had more trouble withthis car than I thought possible! I'm trying to do the right thing w/it and I get jammed up at every turn... Now I have a 500 dollar comp cam that I can't get to work w/a 300 dollar dist..???... Jeez man!!... P.S. Comp cam said they wanted a "melonized steel gear" on this cam..

Panteras, being an Italian-American hybrid, aren't simple cars. The physical size is a little smaller than a Pontiac Fiero, yet there's a longitudinal mounted medium sized V-8 in there with enough room for two people and a weeks worth of baggage. And 351-Cs are not simple, either- at least compared to the everyone-has-one 350 Chevy. Once fixed, 160 mph should be a throttle push away.
FWIW, 'melonizing' is a patented steel treatment that hardens the surface and turns it a black-oxide color. Not all steel distributor gear makers use it- it appears to be 'gilding the lily' if you already have a steel gear. Ask your cam maker where to get such a thing; if they want to make a cam sale, they'll have the info. Note also that Crane Cams is back in business in FL under new owners, and they have steel dizzy gears that are known to work. The website is spotty; try 1-866-388-5120 for a human to talk to.

Thanks Boss... I am hot on the trail of a dist gear. My woes are not really the fault of the car, just hard to find quality guys who do the math. Luckily I have found just such a craftsman and feel I am on the right track. Should be a great winter (spring??) driving season. Thanks you guys, for your help...

Does not Comp cams sell the gear, I forget the actual terms but this has been wrote up a few time, the stock the cam is made out of is the deciding factor
Crane cams use to be the go to for these and even Crower cams, call there tech folks and they will let you know, I would definately ask Comp cams what they suggest, It would be a shame to ruin a cam due to the wrong material

Comp said they wanted "melonized steel" on this cam, they also said the cam core was an "austempered core"... I have called and emailed comp a number of times. They have told me "use a melonized steel gear", "use an iron gear", "use a bronze gear", "use the gear that MSD supplied" " we don't make melonized gears", "we don't make composite gears", and "we are waiting on melonized gears"... So of course, I don't know what hell is going on here???... I guess I will continue to look for the melonized steel gear, and hope I can find one by the time I'm ready to run the car...

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austempered core"...

Thats very unusual. I worked at a foundry that had a austemper line, but to make a long story short. The parts were machined prior to being austempered since they were so hard to machine after the process.
Jeff

OK,
I,m in the same boat and had to do a search as I forgot the particulars,check this out as George and Dan Jones usually have the answers,

http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/...rum_scope=5650045562