Timing Gear

It may be a fait accompli in that "Steves46" has already ordered an aluminum timing gear, but it appears from Snyder's on-line catalog that he didn't have much choice. Most of the fiber gears are not available or have been discontinued. As of this weekend, only the .005" oversized maserated gear is available. The others are either out of stock or have been discontinued. I wonder if that's because the quality has gone downhill among the fiber gears?
Marshall
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
It may be a fait accompli in that "Steves46" has already ordered an aluminum timing gear, but it appears from Snyder's on-line catalog that he didn't have much choice. Most of the fiber gears are not available or have been discontinued. As of this weekend, only the .005" oversized maserated gear is available. The others are either out of stock or have been discontinued. I wonder if that's because the quality has gone downhill among the fiber gears?
Marshall
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I'm not sure what's going on with the supply chain for standard fiber gears. Bert's was in stock a few weeks ago and now isn't. Mike's and Bratton's still have them. I assume there was one common supplier who did a large production run and now everyone is gradually running out.
 
I have a used fibre timing gear sitting on the shelf. Any way to tell if its the laminated or macerated type?
 
Steves46 said:
Thank you, Marshall. Yes sir that’ll be my next move to remove the side cover. Just wanna be sure. Hopefully afterwards, it’ll be crystal clear that I’ll need a new timing gear and if so, I will be ordering an aluminum type.
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happened to me. bought a vehicle, inline 6. no start, etc... fiber cam gear had run its life, worn, oil soaked... and she spit out some teeth! replaced with aluminum. restored timing along with other key events...

definitely change oil on r/r job! little doubt i did not need to say that! :)
 
Update: Got the replacement gear installed last week and although I did not need to change out the timing cover rope seal, I had one heck of a time reinstalling and getting the holes to line-up. Fired-her up only to hear a rather load clanking noise as if the gear teeth were grazing something. Also noticed oil seeping from the bottom of the timing inspection side cover.

So today, I removed the timing cover to see what is going on. Removed the cam gear nut and tapped on the timing gear with a socket just in case I did not seat it properly. I "think" it moved just the slightest.

Question-do the dowel pins need to be flush with the openings on the time gear? Mine are about 90% in the holes. There is no chance I may have installed this 180 degrees given the dowels are in the holes-correct?

Just a bit baffled as to what could have caused this noise and sudden oil leak. I will see if I can attache a video of the noise.
 
Two possible reasons for the noise: If the cam is not seated correctly it can rub on the cover. You should not be able to put the thinnest feeler gauge between the flange on the cam and the gear. Or, if the spring and plunger that keeps the cam from moving forward are defective or missing, the cam can move forward and hit the cover.

The nut on the camshaft that retains the timing gear has to be torqued very tightly. Some owners have put something in the gears to keep the camshaft from moving while the nut is torqued. If you do this use something plastic or wood so that the gears are not damaged. Or put the car in high gear and pull on the emergency brake tight.

Regarding the oil leak: If the gear was hitting the cover it could have knocked it loose to the point where it is leaking. Otherwise, use a new gasket with some gasket cement. Do not use gobs of gasket cement, just a light smear on the gaskets.

Carefully check over the gear to see if there has been any damage. Look for rubbing marks.

The gear could also have been hitting the oil slinger on the crankshaft gear. Look to see if it has any witness marks.

It sounds like you have the timing gear on correctly. The pins are not 180 degrees apart so that the gear can go on only one way.
 
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Thank you very much for the excellent points and will certainly check all of those and report back when I can. What I am thinking is that I may have not had the camshaft nut torqued tightly enough and not going to rule out the Plunger and Spring for I installed new ones. The original one seemed ok and will go back with it. Thanks again!
 
Should be obvious, but if you neglect to install the spring and cam follower in the timing cover, the camshaft will rock back and forth and make a hell of a racket.

Can't really comment on the oil leak.
 
You can use a fairly large punch or a dull chisel struck by a hammer to tighten the cam nut the last little bit. It will leave marks in the cam nut but most I've seen have been tightened at some point in time by that method.
You want that nut tight!
As suggested prior make sure your spring and plunger are in place and be sure to put a bit of grease on them before putting them into the front cover.
As far as your leak on the side cover I use Indian Head shellac to seal both sides of the gaskets for the timing gear covers.
Also put a bit of shellac on the threads of the bolts so oil doesn't weep through the threads.
To aid in getting the front cover in place put in one bolt at the lower corner of the cover and then use a punch/drift in a hole on the other end and use it to lever the cover into place to allow the other bolts to get started.

If you do use the Indian Head shellac some will squeeze out after tightening things up. Resist the urge to wipe it off with a rag. If you do you will have a smeared mess. Lacquer thinner or brake cleaner will clean things up but may take some of your paint with it.
Instead wait a day or two for the squeeze out to dry and then cut it off with a razor blade.
 
JayJay said:
Should be obvious, but if you neglect to install the spring and cam follower in the timing cover, the camshaft will rock back and forth and make a hell of a racket.

Can't really comment on the oil leak.
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I left out the plunger & spring one time. I was just about to wind things up after putting the cover back in and forud the missing items. Took me a while to get the cover back off, especially since every thing else was now in the way.
 
When I installed my Aluminum gear it made a sound for about the first 5 minutes. The gear needed to wear in with the crankshaft gear. After that no more noise.
When you get it back together, take it for a ride and see how it sounds when you get back home.
 
Did you check for proper clearance (backlash) between the teeth of the new camshaft gear and the teeth on the crankshaft gear? Should be minimum of .003" - .005"
 
Update. Everything is buttoned back up and the noise is gone. I am almost convinced the problem was I did not have the cam nut tight enough. I went ahead and replaced it the hex nut type and torqued it down tight. Question, since I had the marks lined up and did not have to remove the distributor, Is it necessary to re-time it?
 
Steves46 said:
Update. Everything is buttoned back up and the noise is gone. I am almost convinced the problem was I did not have the cam nut tight enough. I went ahead and replaced it the hex nut type and torqued it down tight. Question, since I had the marks lined up and did not have to remove the distributor, Is it necessary to re-time it?
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No.
 
Steves46 said:
Update. Everything is buttoned back up and the noise is gone. I am almost convinced the problem was I did not have the cam nut tight enough. I went ahead and replaced it the hex nut type and torqued it down tight. Question, since I had the marks lined up and did not have to remove the distributor, Is it necessary to re-time it?
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At least, check the timing, then you're sure.
 
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