Donated Timing Cover....lots of pics...

[Freddie's Buick]

I've just received a donated timing cover and it looks like the engine this came off of suffered a catastrophic break-down.

After a little bit of cleaning I found chunks of metal embedded into the port openings, (wow)!

I tapped out the metal pieces and then fitted my OEM gears to check how bad were the clearances, (I had these gears stored since 2000 and installed some Kenne Bell gears).

To my surprise the clearances are all in top order.
.002 end clearance. 002 side clearance.

I sized up and extra KB oil adapter gasket which came out to .006.
In the foreground you can see a new adapter I bought from Silver Seal $22.50, (decent price I think).

If this is a foreign made product I have to say that the quality is top notch. No flash and smooth port openings. I think this company is very good.

I will continue this thread as I slowly attempt to recondition this terrorized timing cover. I may even go as far as installing it based on the numbers I've got for in clearances.

You guys think I've lost my mind yet?.....Lol!!:biggrin:

 

[Freddie's Buick]

Mor pics...

 

[charlief1]

Not pretty Freddie but I hope it works for you. It's been scored fairly badly but I think you may be able to mke it work for you. I'm watching to see how it goes.

 

[WarWagon]

Nice pics Fred. My 4.1 this came off of, I sourced it from a '84 Lesabre Wow what a car! It was a local car too and I imagine that it was at WOT 100% of it's life.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

My 4.1 this came off of, I sourced it from a '84 Lesabre Wow what a car! It was a local car too and I imagine that it was at WOT 100% of it's life.

How bad was the engine after that abuse? As you can see the scoring is mostly on the top of the gear pocket, (the gears don't ride there, they ride on the adapter).

Obviously the deep gouges were cased by the two chunks of metal I pulled off of it. I'm still debating if it's salvageable.

Most machinist would scoff at that condition. But I'm curious. Maybe fill the gouges with engine epoxy and sand it down flat? Or just clean it up and tweak for gasket clearances?

Thinking....just thinking...

 

[WarWagon]

Lol Tat 4.1 had 1 bad exploded lifter that the push rod went clear through it and was riding on the camshaft. Obviously the cam wasn't any good, the timing set had been ruined and the timing chain was broken from the plunger out of the lifter had made it's way to it and wedged between the timing gears and chain. After I repaired all of that and swapped the front cover This engne ran great. I ran it with a stock drawthru setup until the rings went bad and it smoked horrribly. Still have it, It's awaiting rebuild.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

Wow!! Lol... :biggrin:

 

[mat231v6]

great thread. Are you going to do the earl brown mod?

 

[Freddie's Buick]

....Are you going to do the earl brown mod?

Why of course! :biggrin:

First, I'm focusing on those deep gouges. Has anyone ever filled aluminum with epoxy? I'm thinking of filling with Marine Tex which I always stock. But I've heard that any epoxy should be sealed with something like Glyptal.

Not a bad idea, but at $49.99 a quart....it does not meet my 'El Cheapo' guidelines. So no sealing for me, just straight up epoxy.

 

[mikemcvaney]

Why of course! :biggrin:

First, I'm focusing on those deep gouges. Has anyone ever filled aluminum with epoxy? I'm thinking of filling with Marine Tex which I always stock. But I've heard that any epoxy should be sealed with something like Glyptal.

Not a bad idea, but at $49.99 a quart....it does not meet my 'El Cheapo' guidelines. So no sealing for me, just straight up epoxy.

Wouldnt go there if any thing comes loose its going through the motor Id look for another cover first. Mike

 

[dr_frankenstein]

Wouldnt go there if any thing comes loose its going through the motor Id look for another cover first. Mike

+1 on that.

look for another cover.

A.j.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

Scary is'nt it? Yep, imagine pieces of epoxy floating around in there. Nope...Don't sound too good..:biggrin:

I'll let it be. Those gouges may or may not effect pressure. It's an experiment. Since the gears don't ride on that area it should'nt be a problem. My timing cover is good. But this back-up donar is a good place to test and practice EB mods on.

 

[mat231v6]

Why of course!

cool

 

[mikemcvaney]

Scary is'nt it? Yep, imagine pieces of epoxy floating around in there. Nope...Don't sound too good..:biggrin:

I'll let it be. Those gouges may or may not effect pressure. It's an experiment. Since the gears don't ride on that area it should'nt be a problem. My timing cover is good. But this back-up donar is a good place to test and practice EB mods on.

there is no reason to test them they work did them on my car . A lot of people have the mods have not heard a complaint yet.

 

[WarWagon]

If needed be, and if one really wanted too perform a non-filling repair to the oil pump housing: Machine the floor "or roof" of the two oil pump gear holes until smooth, then Mill the adapter sealing end of the housing back into the clearance spec as if the gears are still in it. There is enough meat in there and the amount of material removed will be hardly measurable but still measurable.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

Well here is my working timing chain cover. It will now see Earl's famous port hole shaping job. If I would of known all of this back in 2000 it would of saved me tons of money.

Those longer gears will do a number on the cam gear and distributor gear. The distributor gear on mine was almost down to paper thin size.

 

[charlief1]

Wow Freddie. That's ugly. Does it look as bad in person as it does in pics?

 

[Freddie's Buick]

Actually the timing chain cover is in pretty good condition. The specs are all within acceptable close tolerances.

That it looks like it came off of a 29-year old car it's to be expected. That it does'nt look brand new well...it is'nt. :biggrin:

You don't honestly expect it to look like the Silver Seal adapter on the pic above do you?

 

[charlief1]

Not really Freddie, but it looks kinda ugly with the wear it shows.

 

[mikemcvaney]

I replaced one that was in better condition. Mike