440 Rebuild & Upgrade

purple beeper is correct. Timing marks are as appears in the Motors Manual picks below. Good install, your good to go. Be sure to install the fuel pump eccentric cam on the camshaft.

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That's exactly what it says, yes. Then it says to rotate the engine to TDC on compression and drop in the oil pump drive. If it was done as I said, it's already on TDC on compression. A minor thing, but when you drop the parts in and forget that step, it won't run right until you fix it.
 
The oil pump drive, dizzy, and fuel pump rod, and eccentric didn't come out. I will double check that the dizzy rotor is pointing to the correct position at #1 TDC though; the timing will need adjusting anyway.
 
The oil pump drive, dizzy, and fuel pump rod, and eccentric didn't come out. I will double check that the dizzy rotor is pointing to the correct position at #1 TDC though; the timing will need adjusting anyway.
Here is a method that works very well. Bring the engine up to the timing mark on the dampener to timing spec on compression stroke of #1 cyl. Insert dist. line up the reluctor to the dist. pick up. Dist should point to #1 cyl. on dist cap. See photos below.

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Reading through this thread really gives me pause. Our 300 had 99k on it when we purchased it so I would guess it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not it had the timing gear already replaced in the past. Was it pretty much accepted practice to replace it with a fully metal gear if it did fail, or would a dealer replace it with another plastic coated gear?

Is there any way to get a peek at what we have inside there short of tearing into it? If it's still plastic I'd definitely want to replace it. But it'd be a real kick in the teeth to take it all apart only to find it was already replaced.
 
Reading through this thread really gives me pause. Our 300 had 99k on it when we purchased it so I would guess it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not it had the timing gear already replaced in the past. Was it pretty much accepted practice to replace it with a fully metal gear if it did fail, or would a dealer replace it with another plastic coated gear?

Is there any way to get a peek at what we have inside there short of tearing into it? If it's still plastic I'd definitely want to replace it. But it'd be a real kick in the teeth to take it all apart only to find it was already replaced.

You could most easily see them by removing the distributor. There's a window in the casting between the distributor shaft area and the timing gears, which you could look through, using a dental mirror and flashlight, or an inspection scope. In the photo below you can see that diagonally-oriented window directly above the camshaft end, and the dizzy shaft and oil pump gear beyond.

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So after thinking that I didn't need to do it, I pulled the pan. What a pain when on the car. I'm glad that I did - there were plastic and aluminum bits in the sump, in a soup with a fine layer of tetraethyl lead deposits. The bigger concern was the pickup screen - there was a ton of small pieces lodged in there. It took a while to pick all of them out.
As a bonus, I had the opportunity to clean and paint the pan, and take the dents out. Thanks to my buddy who let me use his parts washer and blast cabinet!

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I really liked the quality of this pan gasket by Victor Reinz. Two pieces of cork with a thin metal layer in the middle for rigidity. Plus you get two oil pump gaskets with it!
Rockauto or Car Quest.

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I don't think I've ever seen a C body without a dented oil pan...
 
I don't think I've ever seen a C body without a dented oil pan...

The pickup is located in the right rear quadrant of the sump. In the photo of the dirty sump above, you can make out the outline of where it sat, between the chamfered corner and drain plug.

I didn't realize that the pickup was at the very bottom of the pan, touching the pan. Let this be a warning - if the pan becomes even moderately dented, and in the right spot, this could cause problems for your oil supply. I frequently had the oil pressure drop to zero when I stopped or cornered hard, when the level got down to "ADD". I thought it was all due to the absence of a baffle, but the dented sump and clogging with cam gear bits probably contributed to the issue. Let's see how it works now...

With the full rebuild, the pan will get a new custom baffle, along with a better smoothing out of the former dents.
 
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