What's new
TurboTransAm.com

Register today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

good vendor to purchase timing gear set?

Coltsfan1

Well-Known Member
Hey looking to purchase a timing gear set for 189. Would like to spend $ with a good respectable vendor. Please let me know any experiences you've had purchasing or doing the job. I will have the motor out when doing this btw. :chat:
 
Hey looking to purchase a timing gear set for 189. Would like to spend $ with a good respectable vendor. Please let me know any experiences you've had purchasing or doing the job. I will have the motor out when doing this btw. :chat:

If it were me i would pm Rich.. ( WS6)...
 
Maybe I should back up. The motor is stock and it will stay that way. Isn't the gears or something plastic and should be changed. Sorry for my ignorance.
 
here's a cheaper set then, and quality vendor in the TB world too.
http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA%5FV1521

but the Edelbrock has a billet crank gear with the option to advance or retard your camshaft.

The stock cam gear did indeed have a nylon ring gear per say.

And no apology necessary for not knowing, asking questions is how we find answers.


Is this something that should be changed then if the car STILL has it?
29k miles, but still 25 years old. How bad a job to do THIS job with engine in the car?
My 5.7 was a walk in the park type job to do.

Thanks
Bob
 
You know if we were talking about an engine with just a couple thousand miles then, No, I'd leave it alone, but at 29K miles I'd put it on your "to do list".

I've seen them shed some of that nylon and it's not a catastrophic incident, probably more than a few of them are driving just fine with bits of nylon stuck to the pick up screen.

Knowing what I know now, when you do decide to change one out I'd take the opportunity to blueprint that oil pimp in the timing cover and install a cast iron thrust plate on the bottom of the oil pump housing.
 
You know if we were talking about an engine with just a couple thousand miles then, No, I'd leave it alone, but at 29K miles I'd put it on your "to do list".

I've seen them shed some of that nylon and it's not a catastrophic incident, probably more than a few of them are driving just fine with bits of nylon stuck to the pick up screen.

Knowing what I know now, when you do decide to change one out I'd take the opportunity to blueprint that oil pimp in the timing cover and install a cast iron thrust plate on the bottom of the oil pump housing.



Rich is good people that knows what he is talking about, i can post pics of a blueprinted NOS cover from Earlbrown if you want...
 
Here's what I see is the main problem with the Buick design of the pump; external for one, long pick up length secondly, Aluminum body, thrust plate, then powdered metal gears thirdly.
Because the different metals expand at different rates the clearances get bigger at temperature.
So, a .0025 end clearance becomes .004-.006 and pressure drops and the oil gets thinner too.....stacking losses is what I call it.
The cast iron thrust plate solves allot of that problem and porting the passages helps too.
I probably spent 12-15 hours on my last front cover. Straightening the parallel of the pump surfaces, matching the gear lengths, porting the cover, chamfering the gears, carefully getting the tolerances perfect.

My reward was blowing past the bypass at 80psi cold and hot, hot idle pressure, in gear, at 22-25 psi...it was rock solid all the time too. And if you know Buicks that's rare.

This mod isn't mainstream at all, and probably unnecessary in 80% of owners cars, but if you like to tinker or you're gonna race it then I recommend it.
 
Here are some pics of the EB cover, i also got the SS allen head bolts, look close at the last pic and you can see more of the same SS bolts. BTW Bobtta464 these engs. are nothing like a sbc..
 
Back
Top