well, i took a break. about what, 3 months? anyway, took time to do more stuff to the truck, and go to my first ever stovebolt reunion. what a great time.
so, i'll update a bit more of my work.
first off, the front seal leaked a bit (a gallon every 50 miles)so it needed changing. on a smallblock chevy, the pan needs to be loosened up at least to remove the stock timing chain cover, so, i decided it might be a good idea to replace the oil pump as long as i was down there. the 71 frame allows the pan to be completely removed with relative ease, so the job wasn't too bad.
let's tackle a question while we are here. high volume vs. high pressure vs. stock oil pumps.
most of us have been told over the years that a high capacity oil pan must be used, to which i reply.......... maybe. my engine has an unknown amount of wear, but i'm sure it's not "good as new" and things are worn. my oil pressure at warm idle was about 5 lbs. before the pump change, and is at 25 now. a good improvement i believe. down the road it holds 50 steady. i replaced the stock oil pan after discovering somebody decided to braze a spot in the pan, and i got a new replacement for 75 bucks at autozone. it's a stock replacement, so, 5 quarts. i am having NO ISSUES with the stock pan. if this was a rebuild, i might have done things differently.
oh yeah. ALWAYS REPLACE THE OIL PUMP DRIVE WITH A PINNED METAL REPLACMENT SHAFT. i mean really, you gonna reuse the stock plastic coupler and risk the cheap junk breaking in the winter when oil is like ice cream? ........ummmmmmm..........ice cream!!!! with chocolate syrup!!! .....ummmmmmmmmmm!
ok, what about the timing chain? i have always used double row steel timing chains and have never had an issue with them. not once. i buy from a company called cloyes and will shop suppliers until i find the best price for that brand.
http://www.cloyes.com/it was a good thing i did change out the chain and gears as very soon i was headed for trouble with what looked like the factory setup. this means a 1985 timing chain and gears. so it was ready for retirement.
i did confirm the block is 4 bolt main, which is good, as i was having trouble finding out what the heck the engine came out of. i finally figured out it's a 1985 truck motor from the casting numbers, and 4 bolt main engine. from the serial numbers stamped into the front of the engine i discovered it was a crate engine.
i used a mister gasket chrome timing chain cover and the M$%^&*@er leaked! so when we got home from kansas city i had to change back to stock. oh well, it's done now.
one thing. i said the engine is tired. after changing out the timing chain i reset the ignition timing. MUCH BETTER performance, and mileage has improved somewhat.
ok, let's tackle something i think may ruffle a feather or two.
gear drive setups, like the pete jackson gear drives, varicam, etc.
for the strip, or competition, a gear drive may make perfect sense. for the street, they are dead bone stupid. you WILL tear up your engine much sooner, and there is no practical value in a street vehicle equipped with such nonsense. yeah, i know, they sound cool. yeah, i know, people will look at you and oooh and ahhhh. tell ya what. save the money you were gonna blow on a gear drive to put towards a penis enlargement surgery. funny how that operation seems to affect the sale of some vehicles. (just sayin')and cause guys to forget gear drive setups.
a chain serves the purpose of actually absorbing some of the vibration from the camshaft which if you have ever seen a camshaft you may have noticed the thing has bumps all over it. you know, little lumpy things that drive metal sticks called pushrods, and those metal stick work little teeter totter things called rocker arms, which work little mushroom lookin' gizmos called valves, which slam shut a bunch of times a second and all this causes vibration which gets absorbed by the timing chain. gear to gear setups transmit that vibration to the crankshaft..after it rattles the main bearings some.
oh, by the way, the guys at crane cams, and a long time engine builder here locally happen to agree with me, so i don't need an argument about how well your moms chevette scooter runs so well with a gear setup. ok?
ICE CREAM BREAK!!!! (memo to me: pop the top on the chocolate syrup next time you microwave the stuff to get it hot enough to pour easily. also, think of some way to blame the mess on the dog).
