Experience with this Timing Cover

[TurboWh1]

I need a high volume piece and would rather not stack up spacers on the stock cover.

Found this at Full Throttle.... I actually bought it since the TA version was unavailable at the time. I can set up all the clearances, that's no issue. Just curious if it works well. Cam sensor hole alignment good, etc.

 

[TIMINATOR]

Don't forget to "port" ALL of the oil passages, both suction and pressure. EVERY DROP of oil in the engine has to go thru about two full 360 degree turns coming into and leaving the pump before it gets to any bearing.
I welded up my cover and rounded where the oil comes out of the pump into the filter/ cover to make a smoother transition in the angled hole too. There is a pressure loss at every turn the oil makes! I spent about 6 hours on my front cover and block, smoothing and rounding every turn. Mine may be overkill, but what if it's not?
Stick the front cover, with a filter on it in a bucket of oil, spin it with an electric drill, and see how much it pumps even at the drills low 900 rpm or so! At 5500 rpm the pump is turning half of that (2750 rpm). P.S. you're gonna wear a lot of oil! Also note how much torque it takes to spin the pump, even at that low of an rpm.
I did further tests in a 55 gallon drum, it was still messy!
TIMINATOR

 

[xlr8ngn]

Unfortunately those turns are there, but it prevents all the oil from draining back in the pan and losing prime at the pump. We need a pickup with a foot valve, then we could eliminate the turns in the cover. Is there a reliable check/foot valve on the market?

 

[Turbo6inKY]

I need a high volume piece and would rather not stack up spacers on the stock cover.

Found this at Full Throttle.... I actually bought it since the TA version was unavailable at the time. I can set up all the clearances, that's no issue. Just curious if it works well. Cam sensor hole alignment good, etc.

You won't know about the cam sensor -> oil pump alignment until you get one.

My hypothesis is the folks over in China don't check the alignment on the boring machine often enough. So, once they set it, they'll get a run of good covers, then the tooling starts to drift. Eventually they start cranking out bad covers. But there's no telling how many covers they crank out before they check the tooling and re-align it and they don't go backwards and check the stock they've produced before shipping it out.

So, it's a gamble. If you get a good one, they're fine. If not, well, they're not fine.

I have a hunch all of the "new" covers available are coming from the same foundry in China.

 

[TIMINATOR]

While the twists and turns do help keep oil available for priming, the twists and turns are still there, just smoother after "porting" the cover. If the oil is going to drain back, its hot oil from running the motor, which flows easier, the porting helps the cold oil flow better on startup for a quicker prime. That, and a higher flow volume when the engine is running is more important to me, without as much backpressure in the system and on the drive gears. I also drill about a .028" squirter hole to oil the drive gears.
TIMINATOR

 

[JayC]

I used to use those quite a bit and never really had any issues. Dont know what quality is like these days.

 

[Turbo6inKY]

I used to use those quite a bit and never really had any issues. Dont know what quality is like these days.

I had one ruin a brand new engine. Cam sensor boss and oil pump drive boss were not in line, and it side loaded the pump gears and filled the engine with aluminum.

 

[BEATAV8]

I used them back in the day too. OK but not exactly great. Started using TA front covers and never looked back. That’s all I’ll use now.

 

[TurboWh1]

I was cruising TAs website. Look like their covers are not made in house either. I do have a stock one I could use. But trying to avoid the spacer for larger hi vol gears. Might be best option. I'll do some checking and measuring.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Does that cover have a 1/8NPT plug in the top?

 

[TurboWh1]

Does that cover have a 1/8NPT plug in the top?

I can't recall. I don't think it did. I will check

 

[TurboWh1]

Does that cover have a 1/8NPT plug in the top?

Is this used for some sort of oil feed to cam sensor gear?

 

[TIMINATOR]

A Hi Vol pump wears out the drive gears! You are much better off detailing and porting the front cover. ALL of the oil passages need attention by someone that KNOWS what they are doing. Done correctly, it requires welding too. A stock volume pump/filter adapter and cover, done correctly has better idle volume than a hi volume pump, without the possibility of the extra place to leak and much more wear on the gears. With cams as scarce as they are, that just adds another layer of possible grief.
JMHO TIMINATOR

 

[Chuck Leeper]

I can't recall. I don't think it did. I will check

I'm not aware of what it was put there to do.
I do know that some folks destroyed the cam, gears and engines when that plug fell into the chain.
A Ho Chi Min special that had a piss poor quality threaded hole was the culprit.
Don't know if they are still made or not.

 

[earlbrown]

I need a high volume piece

OK, I'll bite.... Why?

 

[TIMINATOR]

I'm not saying anything.....
TIMINATOR

 

[hemi8]

I used them back in the day too. OK but not exactly great. Started using TA front covers and never looked back. That’s all I’ll use now.

Amen brother, nothing else.

 

[TurboWh1]

OK, I'll bite.... Why?

It's a long summary and I know the general rule of thumb here to stay away from them. And I fully understand the risk. I wanted to retain the stock style oil pump as the car will be street driven a lot. The main goal was to help the bottom end as much as possible with the extra load it's going to see . I will say I have installed this cover and primed and checked everything. So far so good. I had some reservations on the cam sensor alignment, etc. This one was dead nuts. I did have to do a little work to set the end play of the oil pump. And for my application I did add an oil restrictor as I was getting too much oil to the top end during initial prime. The cam sensor gear and my cam gear are same material. That issue is still a concern for me, so we will see how it goes. I will report back after I swap the engines but the old girdled 109 is still doing well. Probably be winter before I swap.

 

[earlbrown]

I'm kinda curious about how you measured ''too much oil'' while running a prime tool.


but I'm real curious about the 'restrictor' you used to limit oil flow to the top. Since the oil for the rockers is fed from the lifters through the pushrods. If you starved your lifter galleys somehow, I have a feeling you're not going to be happy with the outcome.


And I'm having a hard time thinking of how it's even possible with the way the block passages are drilled and oil is routed.


It almost sounds like you reinvented a wheel that isn't quite round anymore.

 

[TIMINATOR]

So exactly HOW did you restrict "oil to the top," and where?
Before the lifters? If so, they will bleed down/never fully pump up, be noisy and lose power(lift and duration will be less.)
Restricted push rods? A better idea, as long as the rockers get enough oil.
If they are roller rocker, your prolly OK, if they have roller trunnions. Some roller rockers run the aluminum rocker directly on the shafts, if the oil is restricted, then that could be bad.
Whether this works lives, and makes good power would depend on RPM, spring pressure, and quality/type of oil.
Either way, we will all learn something!
My thought is that the turns, misalignment, and restrictions in the stock oiling system will hurt the oil flow more in a starting/running engine, than they would help slow the drainback in an engine that had hot oil on shutoff draining back overnight, or several days.
TIMINATOR