No start
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 4,759
Likes: 1,647
From: Fairfax Virginia
I personally would FIX the timing chain before you experience a D-i-s-a-s-t-e-r and ruin a lot of expensive parts. Especially IF you have the matching numbers.
We are starting a nice, long winter break, so have someone pull the engine for you and bring it home and rebuild it yourself over the cooler months. This gives you time as anytime you "rush to rebuild" an engine you pay extra. I spent 9 months building the 427 of my dreams and while I was doing it I stuck a spare small block in the car so I could still drive it. The small block I have is a 1970 block with Double Hump cylinder heads and it worked great inside my C3 while building the 427. That small block beat a factory stock 1970 LT1 in both the 1/4 and roll on acceleration. It also broke the 20 mpg barrier with the 350 in it since I have 3.36 rear along with the four speed. I still have my "spare motor" as it worked too nicely to get rid of.
I had never built a "Big Block" before so I made a deal with a local speed shop owner who built engines to help me. I bought the parts through him and he and I would assemble it together so I could learn. He was a perfectionist and spent hours on each piston assembly getting them balanced perfectly. He also painted the inside of the block with Red Glyptal to seal the pores in the cast iron and make the oil return to the oil pan faster. Working with an experienced engine builder was the smartest thing I could have done. Once installed the engine has not dripped any oil in over 25 years and runs very strong. I recently switched it over to a Holley EFI system and am getting it to learn so it can control the fuel better than the Holley Double Pumpers could. It will control the timing and the fueling when finished.
We are starting a nice, long winter break, so have someone pull the engine for you and bring it home and rebuild it yourself over the cooler months. This gives you time as anytime you "rush to rebuild" an engine you pay extra. I spent 9 months building the 427 of my dreams and while I was doing it I stuck a spare small block in the car so I could still drive it. The small block I have is a 1970 block with Double Hump cylinder heads and it worked great inside my C3 while building the 427. That small block beat a factory stock 1970 LT1 in both the 1/4 and roll on acceleration. It also broke the 20 mpg barrier with the 350 in it since I have 3.36 rear along with the four speed. I still have my "spare motor" as it worked too nicely to get rid of.
I had never built a "Big Block" before so I made a deal with a local speed shop owner who built engines to help me. I bought the parts through him and he and I would assemble it together so I could learn. He was a perfectionist and spent hours on each piston assembly getting them balanced perfectly. He also painted the inside of the block with Red Glyptal to seal the pores in the cast iron and make the oil return to the oil pan faster. Working with an experienced engine builder was the smartest thing I could have done. Once installed the engine has not dripped any oil in over 25 years and runs very strong. I recently switched it over to a Holley EFI system and am getting it to learn so it can control the fuel better than the Holley Double Pumpers could. It will control the timing and the fueling when finished.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 13,082
Likes: 3,399
From: SW Florida.
i don't know that i have the orig gear. that's just it. and many of us don't know it. these guys could have gotten chains or cams and chains 30 years ago and changed hands multiple times since with no way to know what has or hasn't been done. so far my car is just a piece of running yard art. does anybody know if the upper gear can be seen with a borescope after pulling the pan?
