distributor gear alignment

[KendallF]

Well, I'm putting the front cover and assorted shtuff on..thought I'd try to check the distributor gear to cam gear mesh. I put red marker on the dist. gear, put it in, and and turned it over. The rub marks are centered on the gear and appear to engage most of the gear. I assume that's good..anybody done this a lot who can tell me that it looks OK? Sorry the pics are a bit blurry; my camera's lousy on closeups.

[turbodave]

Kendall, is your block and on center or off center? And is this the new wiz bang neat front cover you built?

[KendallF]

This block is an on-center. Yes, that's my fancy front cover. :)

What a day..I put the front cover on the other day and realized that it would leak on the bottom passenger side where the block is beveled. The hole drilled for the bypass valve is uncovered partially. I took a look at my options, and decided to drill and tap the hole at the face of the cover for a allen plug.

Today I was cranking away on the tap (1/2-13, takes some oomph) when the cover slipped out of the vise and fell on the floor. :SHOCKED: It put a nice crack in the bottom edge of the cover. :asskickin I have it veed and stop drilled, and I'll weld it tomorrow so it should be OK, but it sure pissed me off.

I also had to find 5/16" dowels because somebody drilled this block oversize for them previously, and drill the heads to match. That's done, but I still have to drill the head gaskets also. It never ends. :rock:

[turbodave]

Sounds like you're having way too much fun ;)


I'm wondering what kind of hassles I'll be running into when trying mate up a standard front cover to my alum. block. It's also on center as you know. I'm sure there'll be some shaving involved to get the gears to align properly.
And since the block is pure dry sump, that means at the very least, a Duttweiler oiling system.

[Chuck]

Sounds like you're having way too much fun ;)


I'm wondering what kind of hassles I'll be running into when trying mate up a standard front cover to my alum. block. It's also on center as you know. I'm sure there'll be some shaving involved to get the gears to align properly.
And since the block is pure dry sump, that means at the very least, a Duttweiler oiling system.
I use the Dutt external system on my on-ctr engine. Kinda poor alignment when installing it, but once I got past that, it was OK.
I run the relief return to a fitting in the fuel pump block-off plate.[-8]
I used a .120 spacer on the ft of the crank to space the balancer out.. No cam sensor problems as of yet.
When using the STOCK ft cover, there is a voided area right below the crank sensor mount. There is a mis match between the block and the cover that has to be filled in, otherwise the gasket is open and it WILL leak!! I filled the void on the cover w/ JB weld and filed it flat.. No more leak.. Another leak area is the block off plate bolts. One of them is drilled into the oil pan area.. will leak thru the threads if not sealed...

Back under my rock..... :sleep:

[turbodave231]

Sounds like you're having way too much fun ;)


I'm wondering what kind of hassles I'll be running into when trying mate up a standard front cover to my alum. block. It's also on center as you know. I'm sure there'll be some shaving involved to get the gears to align properly.
And since the block is pure dry sump, that means at the very least, a Duttweiler oiling system.


Dave,

A cool aluminum block like yours deserves a dry sump oiling system.....don't you think??

[turbodave]

Dave,

A cool aluminum block like yours deserves a dry sump oiling system.....don't you think??
Well, you're probably right, BUT. All the added expense could be a budget buster!

Stage II front cover (can't be easy to find or inexpensive)
Dry sump pans are outrageously priced!
All the plumbing, pump, mounting brakets, yada yada yada for a dry sump system are HUGE expenses!

[zbuickman]

Instead of worrieing about gear mesh. If I remember right your running front driver crank gearoter style oil pump right? why not a front driver cam sensor type setup?( wouldnt want to figure that one out), or early 80's stage non efi dis. used cam and crank signals off of one crank sensor. the balencer had three slots on the outer ring and one on the inner ring. The ignition modual had two knobs on it. not sure what racing application this served in. just a thought. good luck :arco:

[KendallF]

Instead of worrieing about gear mesh. If I remember right your running front driver crank gearoter style oil pump right? why not a front driver cam sensor type setup?( wouldnt want to figure that one out), or early 80's stage non efi dis. used cam and crank signals off of one crank sensor. the balencer had three slots on the outer ring and one on the inner ring. The ignition modual had two knobs on it. not sure what racing application this served in. just a thought. good luck :arco:

When I said "distributor gear mesh", I meant distributor. :) I am ditching the coil packs for a distributor and MSD 7AL2. If I had more $, I would go to the MOTEC and coil per plug ignition, or if I didn't want a 2 step, I'd use the Edist. The distributor and 7AL2 is proven to pick up HP on very high HP cars, and it's simple and relatively inexpensive.

[zbuickman]

gottcha I get a single track mind sometimes I should have read more closely :albert: :)