Timing Chain

[rathmor]

OK heres the Problem im having right now...

It idles great in park put it in drive and go anywhere its popping and backfiring bad.
best guess is the timing is off at least from my experience.
I ordered a new timing chain and it comes with new gears for it as well.
How hard is it to get to the timing chain on a 65 383?
How hard is it to change the gears for the chain (ive done chains before but never messed with changing the gears) Any special marks I should be making to set them in properly when I do it?

And in general any and all help is welcomed

Thanks in advance everyone
Rick

 

[detmatt]

Did you try putting a timing light on it? I would really try to diagnose exactly what is wrong before you start throwing parts at it. Vacuum advance might be something to check as well, The entire ignition system in fact. You can take the distributer cap off and slowly turn the engine by hand and then switch direction with it while keeping an eye on the position of the rotor. If the chain is stretched the engine will rotate a bit before the rotor moves.

 

[70NPORT]

Yeah, ditto. Why go thru all that....I'd have my timing gun aimed at it right about now, with a vacuum gauge on the carb. Then again is this HIGH mileage 383? May just do you good to go ahead and get into it full bore. I bet that chain has some slop in it. When I replaced mine a while back the chain was still decent but the sprocket was missing a few teeth. I went with a new Cloyes double roller chain and sprockets. Getting the to the timing chain/sprockets won't be a 5 min deal.....but I did it on a saturday afternoon.

 

[rathmor]

Biggest problem is I don't know a lot of the History of the car n motor.
It was supposedly just put in 2 years ago and was a daily summer driver. When I went to look at it they had taken the SB 318 out and dropped in the 383 the year b4.
Problem with the story was they hadn't changed the trans out lol. I knew I might be getting in to a lot of work on the car but me and my wife both like the look of the car and I ended up getting a great deal
So here is where it is sittin atm lol.

 

[atlas]

Seems to me that those old original cam timing gears had a nylon coating that with heat,age&wear fell off making the chain very loose. Like 70Nport stated its not a terrible job just time consumeing. Just make sure the dots face each other.

 

[Big_John]

That sounds more like some thing in the ignition... timing possibly... and I have seen that with bad plug wires too. The resistance wires used are more delicate than some realize and a few heavy handed yanks can up the resistance in the wires and cause exactly what you are experiencing.

If you do want to replace the timing chain and gears, it's not a big deal. The top gear will have to come off to swap the chain anyway and the bottom gear should slide off, but sometimes you have to tap on it a bit.

 

[commando1]

Go with what BJ said first. Even pulling the distributer would make certain everything upstairs is ok.

If you've changed a chain before, the whole setup is no harder really.

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[68Nwprt]

You will need timing cover and water pump gaskets. Maybe a puller for the balancer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_f5ukZVri8

 

[bulldogchesty]

If you do end up changing the chain, remember there are three bolts that go through the oil pan into the chain cover also. Keep us posted.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Ohm the coil, and check the tower for cracks, if it seems really old banged up or leaky probably just change it. Check cap for cracks.

 

[rathmor]

Thanks to ur recommendation Big John I pulled the Distributor first and found it was all gummed up and the advance was stuck in place.
Just finished cleaning it and resettin the gap on the points also changed the wire from points to condenser just because it was out n easy to do
About to put it in so wish me luck lol

 

[polara71]

Excellent, this board has a lot of experienced advisers, more than most boards

 

[rathmor]

Yeah thas why I come here first b4 I do anything im not sure of lol Ive gotten plenty of help here


Well Just tossed in the Distributor and reconnected everything and OMG so far what a difference I got in pumped the gas 2 times
and She fired right up easier then she has since I bought her in July lol and mind you its 37 degrees out n no choke on the carb lol


Thank you all as always for all the help now onve the car warms up ill see how she does driving

 

[1978 NYB]

Unparalleled expertise on FCBO.......just amazing!

I learn something new here every day!

 

[commando1]

I get fulfilled every day here learning new stuff.

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[1978 NYB]

I had a teacher in the 1960's tell me if you don't learn something new every single day of your life..........then all could be lost because you are not living.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

The only thing I will add to that profound statement iz that a really wise man passes on the knowledge that has been passed on to him, Jer

 

[commando1]

You passed on some to me when I needed it most, Jer.

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[1978 NYB]

The only thing I will add to that profound statement iz that a really wise man passes on the knowledge that has been passed on to him, Jer

Roger that Jer!

 

[rathmor]

So I just finished taking apart the front of my motor to do the chain. I had hot it with a light n it was off so I proceded to next check slack lined it up on number1 n it spun the crank I got to just over 3/4 of the timing marker b4 the rotor moved so apart it came.

Now im sitting looking at the gears n they had marks on from b4 n they are a quater turn on the 2 gears apart should that matter when im on tdc of 1 when I make my marks?