Technical How can you test to see if timing chain needs to be replaced?

"Da Grump" professed the use of the OEM plastic gears to isolate vibrations from crank to cam. They were monitored and changed often. I just developed a miss in a 356 a week ago. It was one of those "...and it just started..."moments too after several things were tuned and adjusted. Turns out I flopped 2 plug wires. I get a p*** though, I'm old. Maybe that's also why I found it so quickly. Chain test? An old hillbilly mechanic used to brake torque the engine real good and let completely off the throttle while still "torqued". If it stalled he'd get a timing chain job out of the "test" pretty often. You didn't ask, but I suspected the "new" distributor before I finished reading the 1st post. Double check the firing order, if it's ok then put another known distributor in and see what's up. As stated by others above, a SBC can run real well with several mechanical things amiss. ***ume nothing, eliminate the easiest **** 1st, if you have to go deeper you'll know the rest is good anyway. Pics or it didn't happen...!

 

Yes, my bf mentioned something about a timing light!

 

HA HA that's a good one! No disrespect taken.