Would you reuse it?

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
FABO Gold Member
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Timing chain is in an engine that I know i didn't drive much. I bought the car this was in around 2013 and it came out of the car around 2014 after being driven by me for a few months. This engine has been in my shed for over a decade and I had no idea the timing chain has like no slack, feels like a new set.

The problem is I know it's at least 13 years old, that's a long as I've had it, who knows how long before that it was made or installed.

I'm overhauling this slant and putting a 2 barrel on it for a valiant. no racing or hard abuse planned. I'm planning to use this engine to daily, and replace my current "New" car.

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Princess Valiant said:
Timing chain is in an engine that I know i didn't drive much. I bought the car this was in around 2013 and it came out of the car around 2014 after being driven by me for a few months. This engine has been in my shed for over a decade and I had no idea the timing chain has like no slack, feels like a new set.

The problem is I know it's at least 13 years old, that's a long as I've had it, who knows how long before that it was made or installed.

I'm overhauling this slant and putting a 2 barrel on it for a valiant. no racing or hard abuse planned. I'm planning to use this engine to daily, and replace my current "New" car.

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It looks like a factory style with nylon teeth. Personally I don't run any that have the nylon teeth. Not sure what is available for Slants, but I would try not to. The nylon is junk
 
Princess Valiant said:
Timing chain is in an engine that I know i didn't drive much. I bought the car this was in around 2013 and it came out of the car around 2014 after being driven by me for a few months. This engine has been in my shed for over a decade and I had no idea the timing chain has like no slack, feels like a new set.

The problem is I know it's at least 13 years old, that's a long as I've had it, who knows how long before that it was made or installed.

I'm overhauling this slant and putting a 2 barrel on it for a valiant. no racing or hard abuse planned. I'm planning to use this engine to daily, and replace my current "New" car.

View attachment 1716319055

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Click to expand...
It looks pretty healthy, How loose is the chain in the middle of the gears? Nylon gear?
 
I have had them crack and break chunks off. No slack, may be fine, but I don't care for them
 
Get rid of the nylon gear,,,,keep the rest .
Those silent chains go for a long time with all metal gears .
At one time ,,,you could just buy one replacement gear,,,,but those days might be gone ?
Search and see,,,you never know .

Tommy
 
My concern would be that it might have oxidized over time . If this was an all steel set I would definately use it. But since the engine is apart might as well replace it .
 
i'd 100% replace that with something not nylon.

i don't know the availability of double rollers, but a stock steel silent type wouldn't be bad for a daily and they're little birdie prices.
 
Rollmasters are spendy but well worth the coin. I for sure wouldn't use any nylon gear even if new and free.
 
halfafish said:
Rollmasters are spendy but well worth the coin. I for sure wouldn't use any nylon gear even if new and free.
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had a quick poke around, rollmasters are like 90 on fleabay and cloyes (which i think would be totally fine for this application) are about 70.

so sub 100 bones for peace of mind? ship it!

*the rollmaster has an adjustable keyway for maximum shenanigans, so that'd be my call.
 
Nylon coated teeth on timing gears have a notorious and well-deserved reputation. That is, the OP should pitch it in the trash can.

By the way, all nylons are hygroscopic which means they absorb water. What happens when nylon absorbs water? Here are a couple:

1) dimensional changes (that can't be good!)

2) strength and stiffness are reduced (that can't be good!)

Back in the day, I knew people with big block Pontiacs and Chevys that had failures between 50k to 60k miles. I managed to get around 110k miles out of my 318 ('71 Satellite) before I changed it to a double roller timing chain. The nylon coated teeth on the original cam sprocket were worn virtually to a knife edge. Lots of slop in the chain and the timing mark would wander around quite a bit at idle. In the 1980's I bought a nice non-running '72 Fury III with less than 120k miles on its original 360. The timing chain had jumped and the owner, in a fit of rage, sold me the car for around $110. Easy fix and the local Dodge dealer gave me a 20% discount on the double roller gear/chain setup and other parts.
 
You asked, "would you (like me, AJ) reuse it"

My answer is; "yes I would".
the number-one reason being;
cuz on a slanty, it's like in your face easy to change later.
Number two reason.
I ran a 10 year old one in the early70s, and an even older one in the late 70s, and
I ran another one from 1994 to like 2017 or so, going on 300,000 kilometers.
So, there's that .............
I've run old slantys , on again/off again, almost since I got my license in 1969. Not one chain ever did I change. 318s either for that matter. But my Brother in law lost one. He called me up one cold winter day whining that his 71 demon wouldn't start, which I traced to a seriously jumped chain. Butcha know what? After retiming the distributor, I got it to run at WOT and like 400 rpm lol. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
I picked up the sweetest old lady owned, garage kept 5th ave once for $200.
She parked it in her garage and would not start, so she bought a new car.
Yup timing chain went out, it had about 85K miles on it.
We used it for a family car for years, kids called it "the old comphy couch"
 
At a glance, cloyes, melling, and mahle are all under $50 for a complete set. Pretty simple decision!
 
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