The Force Awakens...

Strictly Attitude said:

I would it is a royal pain dealing with clipping the corners off on a cheaper one. I mean if it is reasonable cost no brainer!

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Clipping corners off on a cheaper one ?

Not sure What John has in mind.
But he has good ideas.
He is working now also.
He will answer later soon.

If it's something you would use on the new engine, then yes I wouldn't hesitate to buy a good
timing cover. I went with the 3 piece so that I would have more room to work on the front of
the cam. With the two piece it looked like it would be easy to drop a cam bolt down inside of
the cover, then you are screwed.

But for most people, how many will really go back in to adjust the cam timing, just saying !


https://www.summitracing.com/parts/clo-9-221/overview/make/chevrolet
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-310/overview/make/chevrolet
.

I think John means cut the Small Block Chevy lower Spot welded on Lower lip rail for the rubber pan gasket seal on the Timing cover.

When I put a new Race double Roller Cloyes timing chain set on the Olds 425 I cut the new Felpro Rubber seal back 1/4 inch each corner.
Filled in gap with Ultra Grey RTV.
Fel pro direction stated that way.
Otherwise drop the oil pan like a Chevy.

Pontiac only easy vintage engine for Timing gear chain replacement.
Done in 1 hour.

DorianL said:

Soooo, I changed mind. It looks like we are going to replace the timing cover anyway (assuming I can find a quality one here) that will fit a short pump.

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They make a water pump gasket that is 0.100 inch thick and spacers from 1/8 inch thick
to over 2 inches thick.

https://www.summitracing.com/search?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=thick water pump gasket

Talking about putting a cheap one in you cut the corners off the metal where it holds the seal allows you to slip in with oil pan in place. Did that when installed the Isky.

Strictly Attitude said:

Talking about putting a cheap one in you cut the corners off the metal where it holds the seal allows you to slip in with oil pan in place. Did that when installed the Isky.

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I was thinking you meant that John.

Oldsmobile did that for you already.
Right in the factory GM Service manual cut Trim the front Oil pan seal. Fill corners with RTV Silicone.

Pontiac 1970 service manual states they used to have a black strip sealer you set into place in corner joints.
I THINK IT WAS DUM DUM Butyl Rubber sealer.

I have a brand new Cloyes 9-3145 Timing chain set for the 87 Corvette I found a few nights ago.
Bought it 4 years ago.
Forgot I had.
Special made just for 1987-1991 TPI 350 Corvettes.
Cloyes Race Double roller upgrade.
Time and dropping the oil pan always stopped me in past getting it done.

You can wiggle the Sbc timing cover off with the oil pan bolted up.
You will never get it back on .
Unless you use Johns trick.
Oldsmobile way.

Installing the front balacer oil seal last would be best.
Gives more room to manuver without the seal in place.

Or drop the oil pan again.

No leaks on the Olds engine.
2 years 16,000 miles later.
Really good.
Has a Asbestos Rope rear main oil seal.

Thanks Gents,

All great information here from notching the timing cover to the extra-thick water pump gaskets.

This PM I will be going over to the shop to see what they have as covers. What I eventually pick may largely be dictated by what they have.

#staytuned

OK Dorian.

on hold

Rats, I keep forgetting to document with pics.

Well, as fate has it, they had NO timing covers in stock. BUT, a buddy of mine had an old OEM one and, for a morning's work helping him swap out a fuel pump on an RV, he even sandblasted it for me. ;-)



The timing cover he gave me was indeed radius welded. The one that was on there was spot welded.

After painting, we went through the tedious process of replacing. Also fitted it with a new front oil seal.



At work with another buddy.


Tedious as it was, the swap was uneventful.

And... preliminary testing seems to show that the oil leak is gone !

I would also point out that the steel of the OEM cover felt thicker. It definitely "rang" a lot less when thumped.

At this point we are at the next step of "The Force Awakens" saga.

I took the C3 for a few test drives. As mentioned, the oil leak seems finally gone. I'll keep an eye on that.

That was more a matter of pride than anything else. I want the underside: clean ! No smell a smoldering motor oil.

This leaves me finally open to more sustained testing and improving and ...trying to decide what to do next.

I do want to keep it some what of a driver; so nothing radical will be undertaken like new heads or a cam swap.

I do have a power brake conversion kit. I am considering that.

The front control arm bushing are clearly perished. I am postponing doing an alignment job until that is sorted.

I think I need to get the following sorted:

I find the car to be uncomfortable to drive at 60 mph. I am not sure what it is. The TT felt smooth as glass cruising at 70 or 80. Granted, it did of a 200-4R and the RPM was in the low 2000's. On the corvette, 60 MPH is at about 3000.

Now to be clear, I do not know exactly what I am sensing.

It could be, I guess, the exhaust muffs bumping against the plastic body. I noticed that the clearance there is minimal. (Loud, but cool, Flowmasters do not help diagnosis.) I have to revisit how the piping was actually hung. I don't seem to recall any rubber insulators.

The timing tab on the OEM cover is about an inch away from the harmonic damper. Could this damper be too small for the application?

Is the clutch properly aligned? I suspect is isn't. I need to rule everything else out be for digging in there.

Hmmmm, more testing this evening.

Check u-joints also

I vote for an intake swap & carburetor swap Dorian.
Edlebrock Performer intake.
Holley Street Avenger 4150 with vacuum secondary.
670 or 770 cfm Street Avenger.

Well tuned engine will perform better at all speeds driving.