My 1988 is over 140K miles, it's time to replace the timing chain and water pump.

Should I stay with OEM chain, or should I use double roller chain?

Do I need to drop the oil pan for this task?

What special gear/pulley puller do I need beside the regular 3 jaws puller?

I have never change a timing chain before, but my brother who done it before with a 1980 Camaro Z28 will help me. I'll be taking thing apart and put it back, he'll may just help me install the chain correctly.
How long will this take if I can only work on the car a few hours on weekday days and whole day weekend?

Thanks,

 

If you use it just for a street car, save yourself come cash and go OEM.

A harmonic puller. (Different type O gear puller)

 

Thanks ZylaRace,
OEM it is. What about the oil pan? do I need to drop it? My brother said that he had to tilt the engine a little in order to shange the chain. He did this a long time ago, he couldn't remember the details.

 

hey man you can buy a edle brock double roller for 50 bucks it for the roller cam it fits nice and snug get it at any advanced auto place

 

Although some people claim they do it without dropping the pan by cutting some of the flange on the timing cover and wiggling it in, I would recommend dropping the pan.

 

Yep.. this will help

 

do yourself this favor also.....make sure that you put a bolt back in balancer, cuz as soon as you start putting pressure on the puller to remove the balancer, the "point" of the puller goes into the hole where the bolt came out of and strips the threads (or smoothes them out) this happened to mine, and we had to retap the hole. not that it can't be fixed, but it is a big PITA if you don't have a tap and dye set!

 

I agree with at least loosening the pan enough so the front drops down a couple of inches.

If you try the cut and paste method, you've got a 50/50 chance of ending up with a leak at the points where the cover meets the block. Then you'll end up doing the job ALL OVER AGAIN.

So why take the chance? It's pretty easy to get to all the oil pan bolts from underneath anyway.

You might want to install one of the one piece oil pan gaskets while you're at it. They're definitely worth it and are reuseable.

You'll also need a damper installer. Hammering it back on is a NO-NO! If you're "bucks-down" you can make one out of a grade eight bolt of the same diameter and thread pitch as the damper bolt but about 8" long; a thick flat washer (large enough in OD not to fit inside the damper hole) and a nut.

Thread on the nut until its near the hex head of the bolt, then slide on the washer. Now screw in the bolt/washer/nut combo as far as it'll go. Then, while holding the hex head of the bolt with a wrench, use another wrench to tight the nut. The nut/washer will push the damper back on. A little oil on the ID of the damper and OD of the crank snout helps.

I've used this technique on occasion when my installer wasn't available.

Hope this helps.

Jake

Jake

 

I agree with at least loosening the pan enough so the front drops down a couple of inches.

If you try the cut and paste method, you've got a 50/50 chance of ending up with a leak at the points where the cover meets the block. Then you'll end up doing the job ALL OVER AGAIN.

So why take the chance? It's pretty easy to get to all the oil pan bolts from underneath anyway.

You might want to install one of the one piece oil pan gaskets while you're at it. They're definitely worth it and are reuseable.

You'll also need a damper installer. Hammering it back on is a NO-NO! If you're "bucks-down" you can make one out of a grade eight bolt of the same diameter and thread pitch as the damper bolt but about 8" long; a thick flat washer (large enough in OD not to fit inside the damper hole) and a nut.

Thread on the nut until its near the hex head of the bolt, then slide on the washer. Now screw in the bolt/washer/nut combo as far as it'll go. Then, while holding the hex head of the bolt with a wrench, use another wrench to tight the nut. The nut/washer will push the damper back on. A little oil on the ID of the damper and OD of the crank snout helps.

I've used this technique on occasion when my installer wasn't available.

Hope this helps.

Jake

Jake

 

Being that the stock chain with the crappy cam sprocket (nylon gear teeth) was able to last more than 150,000 miles, I figured a $13 stock chain and gear set would do just fine.
I loosened up 3 or 4 bolts on each side of the oil pan. I didn't actually drop it, just loosened it enough to give the pan a little "give" so I could get the new cover on. The Fel Pro gasket set I got actually said to trim the edge of the bottom cover gasket. I also smeared a good amount of RTV along the seam after it was installed just to be sure. No leaks at all. Depending on how mechanical you are, getting it done in one day shouldn't be a problem.