Timing chain job?

[Boxcars]

Can someone tell me what the typical shop, or shop manual will indicate for the number of hours it takes to replace the timing chain set on a bone stock 87 GN? TIA

 

[klmnla]

Can someone tell me what the typical shop, or shop manual will indicate for the number of hours it takes to replace the timing chain set on a bone stock 87 GN? TIA

If Im doing it, it takes 2 weeks.

 

[GerrywithaG]

book time is 5.8 w/ AC and PS

of course the GN specialists can do it a lot faster

 

[87gnguy]

Can someone tell me what the typical shop, or shop manual will indicate for the number of hours it takes to replace the timing chain set on a bone stock 87 GN? TIA

The first time I did one took me 17 hours... However, we did my buddy's cars next and one took 6 and the next one took 4.5. So yeah, you get better with practice. We got the time down to 3 hours to remove the whole engine

 

[87-WE2]

If Im doing it, it takes 2 weeks.

Thinkin' about it takes even longer. I've been thinkin' about doing it for 6 months!!!

 

[bison]

1hr 40 minutes on the lift with front mount intercooler. It was a girdled engine with a selective thrust too. Plasti gauged down to .001 then added a .010 shim. A little time wasted with the damper puller, re shimming, and sealing the bottom of the cover. The nice things were i had water in the engine with no antifreeze, the cover gasket came off in one piece, and there wasn't any grease or dirt on the engine. Knowing what tools are needed and having them laid out and ready to go help. A lot of time is often wasted cleaning greasy parts, scraping gaskets, and looking for tools. I was able to skip that.

 

[pacecarta]

and for an OE nylon gear that got chewed up you have to drop the pan and clean the pan and pickup screen
and unless you know the pickup and pan never saw any debris (old gears or headgaskets) or antifreeze ..you should drop the pan

 

[Boxcars]

That's good advice on the pan clean up, especially with nylon gears. I've done this job quite a few times over the years, but I never thought about how many hours the shop manual alloted for this particular job. This particular job was a stock, original, 87 that didn't seem to have had much care or maintenance. So, this job, took me about 10 hours, maybe a little more. By the time you chase all the threads, wire brush all the bolts, and clean mating surfaces, you could never do a job like this in 5.8 hours. I also replaced the water pump. Funny, power steering or AC have no bearing at all on a TR timing chain replacement. Certainly, if I had to do the job over for some reason, with parts already clean, I could do it in half the time. I don't do this for a living, and I just didn't want to overcharge the owner for my services. Thanks all for your input.

 

[salvageV6]

Drop the pan a bit in all cases or the front part of the gasket ain't gonna seal on the lip of the oil pan.

That would more than double the time.....

 

[turbo nasty]

According to mileage and oil psi I check, spec and build the oil pump while its off which adds time. Crude and grime and old gasket cleaning is alot of extra time as well.

 

[fleebag]

did cam swap couple weeks ago, took two days, first day took all apart and cleaned 2nd day back together, nothing like a sbc thats for sure. take ur time, like Bison says get most tools that you know out and ready.