Changing timing gears in car
Changing timing gears in car I have the engine on the stand now, and I have a suspicion it's going to come in a bit hot on torque. Since I can't tune, the only other way to shave off some torque (if need be) would be to retard the cam. I regret not timing the old set to see where I was and where I am now. The car had a hella sloppy LT4 chain that was probably on borrowed time and I replaced it with a plain jane non-adjustable link set from Cloyes. . I made 260whp/307wtq restricted last year on the wallered out chain. Ideally I want 310wtq, but can take as much as 315wtq before it gets bad and 317 is the absolute max. Anything more and I can't race period. So my question is this: is it feasible, with the engine in the car, to raise it enough to drop the oil pan enough to swap out the existing timing set for one of these adjustable deals from Lunati?
https://www.lunatipower.com/barebone...lt1-95-up.html
If so, how much of a nightmare is it to clean the rails and get the pan back on without it leaking?
I'll dyno next Thursday unless I drop the ball and don't get the car together. I just want to have a plan B ready to go if I get bad news.
https://www.lunatipower.com/barebone...lt1-95-up.html
If so, how much of a nightmare is it to clean the rails and get the pan back on without it leaking?
I'll dyno next Thursday unless I drop the ball and don't get the car together. I just want to have a plan B ready to go if I get bad news.
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 86
Likes: 7
From: St. Louis MO
Why can't you tune? It's not allowed in your class? The swap can be done in the car. If you aren't going to remove the oil pan, be cautious when removing the timing cover. The front of the pan will be open for stuff to drop down. If you have FB, hit up brandon strong at strong speed works. He might be able to help with a tune. Sounds like the surest best. If they only made a 2 piece timing cover, cam timing would be much easier. Let me know if you do go the adjustable route. I'd like to know how it goes.
Isn't it about a 100% chance you tear the oil pan gasket by pulling cover only? If I do it, I'll post back in here. No tuning allowed unfortunately, plus it's a 93 with the bastard ECM.
Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 72
Likes: 11
It's been a long time but we used to trim the corners of the tab inside the timing cover and loosen all the pan bolts to do this in car w/o pan removal. It can be done but there is a high probability of some leaks/seepage. Never tore a pan gasket doing this though.
Don’t cut the tabs. It takes an extra 10min to loosen all the pan bolts. Pan doesn’t have to be dropped far to clear the timing cover. I’ve read you can keep the rear bolts still somewhat loose and in the block. I’ve always just removed all of them. Yes the gasket will tear if it’s been through a lot of heat cycles. No big deal. Apply either ultra black or the right stuff in/above/below the torn gasket, bolt up and let it cure for 24 hours before starting. Because it is a rubber gasket there’s no reason to clean the rails or put on a new gasket. If pan bolts are properly/evenly torqued it’s unlikely it will leak.
If it won't leak after that and can drop enough without dropping the k member then I'm good. I just figured oil getting in there would cause issues. I'm going through all this asspain with it on the stand holding my mouth just right praying it has no leaks when it goes back in.
