I put a gear drive in my 350 and the roller thrust bearing that came with the kit was suuuper long(15/16"), leaving my timing cover a full 1/4" from the block so I ordered a new one from Summit that was shorter. Now the length is ok(after I sand a bit off) but I got a new problem. The hole in the timing gear where the bearing fits in is 3/4" and the thrust bearing(Lunati pn-90001) is 11/16". So the fit is sloppy. I checked and it don't fit my stock timing gear either. Is this just the way they are? Don't seem right to me at all! I was hoping to have this done by the 4th but don't want to screw it up by installing it wrong. Hope someone has experience with this... Thanks- John
Just put a good set of chain & gears back in and be done with it. Gear drives rob power and can cause internal engine damage. Not to mention they make all kinds of racket.
Yep less harmonics get transferred with a chain than with a gear drive. I nearly always use a clows roller and an anodized aluminum thrust botton. The button is sized to go with whatever cover you are using, the late covers are a little deeper than the earlier covers with the piece sign on them so you have to do one of two things choose the proper button for you cover or just get one and check your cam play if it is too tight you shave a little off the button. Cloyes as well as moroso make a spring loaded on that is adjustable if you cheapo aluminum button is not your game. It is really a better deal.
Winner Winner !!! Beaner hit it right on the head. Gear drives amplify the harmonics of the valve train. Just get a good quality roller chain set >>>>.
Why do you feel the need for a gear drive in the first place ???...If it's the noisy kind you will go nuts after about a week of driving it....they also transmit shock impulses to the distributor gear possibly causing failure in the cam gear area.
yea but you don't know anything. If it is the whinney sound that one is after there are other ways to do it. Bolt a power steering pump on it, then run ford type F tranny fluid in it. It will make a real nice whinney sound after that. Or get a CB radio and don't put the little condsnsor dealy on your alternator. Put a PA type speaker behind the grill wired to the CB. Light the CB off and key the mic. it will whine real nice when you rev the motor. Ya learn lots of tricks when you get around ghettoish high school kids. Some of them actually grow up and become hot rodders, at least if you can keep them off the pipe.
Ha Ha! I know enough to teach a "How to post a You Tube video" class! If you really want whine, put someone's 'ol lady in the passenger seat! If you want the sound of a Blower.... Quit pretending and put a freakin' Blower on it!
CHZCHZCHZCHZCHZCHXCHZ CHZCHZCHZCHZCHZCHXCHZCHZCHZCHZCHZCHZCHXCHZCHZCHZCHZCHZCHXCHZCHZ Gear drive symphony.
knowing better i put a geardrive on a fresh sbc build.till this day i still dont know why i did it. one short ride(maybe 1/2 mile)and i now have a brandnew geardrive sitting on the shelf.been there for a long time.gonna stay there too!!!!cloyes double roller.only way to fly.or roll.
If we can get back to your original question. I haven't seen them that sloppy before. Sounds like maybe your cam sprocket hole is enlarged for some reason. What brand of gear drive? I've run gear drives often, and the power loss is almost immeasureable. Power loss is a silly excuse to not run a gear drive. Never had any engine damage either, but I guess I never had over 30k miles on one before it was sold. I've got one in my 327 presently, and yes they are noisy. Does it bother me; no. I bought it because I like them, and the whine. Nothing wrong with a good Cloyes double roller, but it's not a gear drive. All this said, there is another option to get the "blower" sound. I couldn't use it because space is cramped on my car, but if you have room for a mechanical fan, you've got room for one of the cog belt kits. They'll give your engine a blower whine without the gear drive, and look pretty trick too. They have a V groove on the back side to run accessories if needed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SBC-Chevy-G...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ceec86b2f&vxp=mtr
another vote for double roller. I used to want a gear drive because I thought it sounded cool..... ....but that's like the baseball card in your bike spokes sort of deal. LOL
Long ago I installed one of those noisy gear drives, the idler bearing had to be ground down as per the instructions to get the correct spacing between it and the timing cover. It was supplied that way so you could set the clearance yourself. After all that I tore it out after two weeks of the noise, I also have a like new one on the shelf. I bet there are a lot of em out there collecting dust with low miles!
If you held out longer they wear in and get quieter, or order a quiet one and they are barely noticeble. But I'm not sure why anyone would want a quiet one if they want the sound. A friend of mine put in a quiet one and was disapponted that it's almost impossible to hear it, even with the headers closed.
Back to the original question. 90% of the cam buttons I get don't fit without modifications. And once again "The Engine Builder Earns His Money" >>>>.
Touché. I had some whine just the other day or is that wine. Not sure I am still a little fuzzy, it was golden muscatel the liqueur store was all out of Thunderbird.
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