Using a Gear Drive with stock cover

[SPEEDSTAR]

I have a stock front cover that was used on a stgII on- center . It also used a gear drive, it was clearanced for the gears,and the pump was cutoff and the hole it left was welded up. The engine that it came off had a dry sump pump on it. Well I got to looking at the possibility that the stock pump could stay on the cover and the cover then could be clearanced for the gear drive, it would take a little cutting out of a section near the pump and welding a small block of alum. back in.
. .......Has anyone else had any experience with this

 

[JayC]

You can modify a stock cover to work with a gear drive and standard oil pump no problem. Just takes a little cutting and patching.

Make sure you have a quality gear drive, though before you go that route. Ive seen several engines have gear drive failures and end up with a bent valvetrain. I just use timing chains. If I ever have one break, I'll think about a belt drive but until them, Im sticking with what hasn't caused me any grief.

 

[SPEEDSTAR]

Jay,

I"ll be using the milodon gear drive that was in the engine , they turned um 8700 to 9000 rpm as busch engines, I hope it will do for my engine to 6800 rpm. And will I was checking the stacked height for the cam sensor drive gear, I dug up an old odd fire long nose cam and assembled it with stock parts and put it in a stock 3,8 and measured, then assembled my short nose roller cam together with the gear drive ,using the cam sensor drive gear off the busch engine , which is a little different , and then measured, now I see why they cut .030 off the front cover. Now that is solved , I will use a hardened tool steel spacer between the harmonic balancer , somewhere between .120 and 160 , and the just space the w/pump pully and the rest of the stuff to line up. Am I going in the right direction with it?

THANKS JEFF