Replaced timing chain and gears, same amount of chain slack

[neirfin]

Was replacing the intake manifold on the engine (350) and figured I would check the timing chain (no idea how many miles on this engine, crate engine from the 80's). It was pretty loose on one side, slightly loose on the other and I could move the balancer about 10 degrees before the dist moved, and the crank gear has some tooth wear on the inner face of the gear, so thought, OK time for a new timing set.

got the new set, slapped it on and walah! the new set has the same amount of chain slack... there was two sets from Oreilly, one inverted tooth (the same that was on the engine, same one i replaced it with) and the other (going to pick it up and see if it helps the slack, but somehow i don't think it will). was trying to keep the single row rather than double roller to avoid having to do long water pump and redo all of the pulley configuration... i think the double roller will require more clearance between short water pump and cover, but not 100%...

Where should i start looking, or what could i be missing (time for a new engine??)? it is very possible this crate engine was rebuilt once or twice along the way before i owned it, could rebuilding the engine cause the cam/crank measurements to be different, leading the chain to be too loose? a friend said there should be 'a little' slack, but it seems like way too much since i can push it almost all the way back to the gears on one side.

[firedemon]

i have a double roller under stock cover and short pump no problems at all . seems that if the chain has that much slack it was line bored wrong or you got a couple bad timing sets . with the quality of parts coming from over seas lately .......

[BigBird05]

If it was line bored enough to cause that much timing chain slack, then it's time for a new block.

[cj847]

I have got to ask. Why were you looking at the timing chain? An intake replacement does not require removing the front cover unless you are changing the cam. If the truck was running OK before, then it should run OK after.
In my experience, a timing chain rarely needs replaced unless the engine is worn out and being rebuilt. Occasionally a chain will slip a tooth and obviously need to be changed when there is that much slack. Other than those two cases, don't even worry about it.
Exception - high performance race application.

[Ol Blue K20]

Double roller should work under a stock cover. Buy a good quality chain....

[jocko]

recommend Cloyes or equivalent quality for any double roller chain - the key words to look for in its construction are true-roller type. Summit has several options, incl Cloyes.

[Maker]

This might be an option.
Comp Cams chain set Part Number: CCA-7100-5

[A1971Blazer]

I don't personally like them but a gear drive would be another option
If you can stand the noisy spur gears

[neirfin]

As for the reason to check the timing chain, it would occasionally miss at idle, and the balancer was worn through (you could see it wobble at low idle, but run smoother as the RPM go up). Just figured since i had taken it down to that point, might as well check it all.

So... both sets are Cloyes, the one (inverted tooth i believe) is the single row, and it is very loose. The second Cloyes option (both from oreilly) is the double row, two rows of teeth, but the website says it is a 'non-roller' chain.

I put on the second set (was $2 more) and it fits perfectly, no slack... maybe oreilly has the description wrong or something. I am not very familiar with all of the types of chains and applications, but it doesnt make much sense that it fits this well and the first (both are made to fit per the website) has so much slack... somewhere i read that some chains come pre-stretched but couldnt find anyhting about that for tehse two parts...

First (that had too much slack) was the c3001K and the second (that fits perfect) is c3023k.

[neirfin]

Originally Posted by A1971Blazer

I don't personally like them but a gear drive would be another option
If you can stand the noisy spur gears

i saw these, and read about them... someone made the good comparison, that i would have loved that as a kid, but as an adult, no way LOL

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by neirfin

i saw these, and read about them... someone made the good comparison, that i would have loved that as a kid, but as an adult, no way LOL

I'm with you on that...I would never use one unless it was a "have-to" case

[neirfin]

after looking up these part numbers on summit, i am even more confused... the style that did not fit (too much slack) is belt chain style, but the one that does fit, is listed as a "double roller, non-roller" chain... i guess anything can be typed in these descriptions, but i cant find anything about the original chain style that would have come on a crate targetmaster engine, or the original 350 engine from 1969. Orielly/summit show both fit, but the difference is major... Both were sealed parts in the bag and inside the box, not obviously returned or tampered with.

i guess this could just be chalked up to a bad chain from the manufacturer...

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm glad you found one to fit correctly. As for the gear drives, I have had a few. Being old now, makes me want another....we'll see....