I set up the gear drive this weekend. Milodon recommends using a strip of newspaper to establish the gear lash....I haven't touched a newspaper in years....but I found an old section of newspaper from 1992 stashed away!
There is a need to drill and tap one hole in the block. My ability to hold a drill square is excellent, within 30 degrees in any/all directions. Not good enough. So I made up a basic drill jig that bolts to the block and had a couple plugs. One has a dowel nose that tightly fit in the Milodon gear plate to locate the hole. The other has a hole that acts as a drill bit guide and ensures the bit is 90 degrees to the block face in all directions. Took about 20 times longer to make the jig than drill the hole...but in any case it's done.
It's interesting that this hole 'can' be drilled into an assembled engine, like if you were retrofitting the gear drive to running car. It would take some effort to keep shavings out of the engine, but it could be done. Except when the drill bit breaks though the back side, you'd lose some metal into the crankcase....I guess you just have to live with that unless you pulled the pan and cleaned it out. The holes needs to be 5/8" deep at a minimum to use the bolt they give you, and that is right at the thickness of the block, so you pretty much will break through. I guess you could substitute a shorter bolt and leave it a blind hole.
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