Maintenance repair on survivor

[ALLZS]

My survivor well need a timing chain if i pull the engine to replace it correctly will that take away from its survivor status

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

A friend of mine races his 30K Mile 1969 Chevelle L78, M21, KK, with replacement trans and rear but had the original engine rebuilt without painting any surfaces, it looks amazing and goes like hell.

If you are super clear with the rebuild shop ahead of time or do the work yourself you can only see the new gaskets.... (I would pick black gaskets not the crazy blue or orange)

Ryan W.

[luzl78]

Don’t really clean the cover. Just the gasket surface.

[60sStuff]

My survivor well need a timing chain if i pull the engine to replace it correctly will that take away from its survivor status

No.

A True Survivor is allowed to have percentages figured in on certain areas of the car.
Obviously battery, belts, hoses, tires and exhaust to name a few.
So a new timing chain will not effect the Survivor status.

As mentioned above, do not strip, paint etc. anything. Just carefully remove cover, gently clean to preserve the OEM finish, use factory gaskets and reinstall.

Chris.

[ALLZS]

thanks guys for the advice car has the old nylon timing gear & has me worried every time i drive it

[firstgenaddict]

I don't know that I would pull the engine to put a timing set in a car. If the cam was bad that is a different case all together, however if nothing was currently wrong I would just pull the top end down and put a timing set while in the car. - you have to pull the radiator fan prior to pulling the engine anyway -
To keep it as close to original as possible...
Try to find a NOS gasket set so you can replace the intake gaskets with the 100% correct ones and do not use silicone...
I found a NOS set a few months back on ebay and only paid $75 for head set with steel shim head gaskets, correct cork valve cover gaskets and all the correct intake gaskets just in case I ever needed to do my original car.
FWIW If you are meticulous with your details and do all of this it will be difficult for someone looking at it to definitively state the engine has been apart.

[Charley Lillard]

How many miles on the survivor ? Does it even need chain replacement ? You can pull dist. cap and turn engine over at crank to see how much slop is in the chain. If not much slop I would leave it alone.

[ALLZS]

57000 miles the intake was leaking in the corners when I had the intake off I could see the upper timing gear and the plastic looked very brittle and lots of cracking and missing pieces also would like to pull the oil pan as all that nylon gets pulled into the oil pump screen

[60sStuff]

57000 miles the intake was leaking in the corners when I had the intake off I could see the upper timing gear and the plastic looked very brittle and lots of cracking and missing pieces also would like to pull the oil pan as all that nylon gets pulled into the oil pump screen

What automobile are you working on and what year? It matters.

If it is a Pontiac, the Cam Sprocket was aluminum with nylon teeth from about 1965/66 through around 1972.

I know too well. I once owned a 67 GTO, HO 4 spd. with 70,000 miles when it shut down. Many nylon teeth had been worn down and a few broken off.
I had other reasons to pull the engine, so now it was a must.
I already knew that a Pontiac Dealer service said if the nylon gear needs replaced you are advised to drop the oil pan to clean the nylon debris.

When I pulled off the pan there was plenty of small nylon chips that had gotten into the oil pump pick up screen.

These factory sprockets were a poor design.

Good luck on whatever you do.

Just remember, on a Survivor car don’t strip, paint, change anything except that timing set and factory style gaskets to preserve what’s left.

Chris

[ALLZS]

sure kinda like when I did the intake seemed like it took me 3 times as long to do it & not to disturb anything or brake anything

[firstgenaddict]

LONG ISLAND CORVETTES has the correct gaskets with the TAB on the intake rails.
I know people say to use RTV on the china walls... I personally like the rubber ones and I use some of the brown semi hardening gasket maker where the two gaskets meet.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Charley is right about checking the play in the distributor...but, I can tell you first hand that mileage isn't the best gauge. Our survivor 70 L78 4spd Nova had about 22,000 miles and there was excessive play in the chain, so it was replaced. Most folks couldn't tell it was ever apart. Our survivor L78 th400 car had a similar situation, about 30,000 miles...when I took the timing cover off the chain almost fell off into my hands.

That design was very poor given the performance aspect of the L78 motor...I wonder how much it would have cost GM to have used better parts to begin with...probably about a $5.00 back then :hmmm:

Just wipe off the grease. clean the gasket surface and put it back together...also, no need to remove the motor for a timing chain/gear swap...just pull the radiator and the other stuff and do it.

-wilma

[ALLZS]

I know I can put a chain in without pulling the motor but don't you think I should pull the oil pan to clean out all the nylon laying in the pan & in the oil pump screen

[luzl78]

I know I can put a chain in without pulling the motor but don't you think I should pull the oil pan to clean out all the nylon laying in the pan & in the oil pump screenabsolutely!

[WILMASBOYL78]

I know I can put a chain in without pulling the motor but don't you think I should pull the oil pan to clean out all the nylon laying in the pan & in the oil pump screen

Depending on the car you will have to lift the motor up a little to have enough room to get the pan off. Then you will need new gaskets/seals for the pan...might be a good idea to check the oil pump for wear...and maybe replace it as well. This will also give you a chance to inspect the bottom end of the motor and make sure the bearings are ok.

good luck..wilma

[Salvatore]

good idea on all ends Tom.

[firstgenaddict]

I agree if there are chunks missing from the sprocket you DO need to drop the pan.

AND THANK YOU CHARLIE for the tip on the slack by watching dist... :biggthumpup:

[JKZ27]

Good info, thanks! I will likely be attempting the same repair on my 350 without disturbing too much.

What replacement timing set will you be using for your survivor?

[Mr70]

Friend of mine working on his right now as well..

[big gear head]

They make the same link belt (?) timing chain sets with a steel upper sprocket. I would think that one of those would be closest to original. https://www.jegs.com/i/Comp+Cams/249/3210/10002/-1?&mrkgcl=1239&mrkgadid=3328048418&adpos=1o3&creative=329886785913&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&jegspromo=thirdparty&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyq3PwpvY4wIVCRgMCh0ligyMEAQYAyAB EgJqC_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[WILMASBOYL78]

I would suggest a good quality double roller setup...last time I needed these parts I got them from Eric Jackson. {Vintage Muscle Car Parts}...he has quality parts. Give him a call and he can get you the right stuff!

http://www.vintagemusclecarparts.com/#

[Salvatore]

X2 Tom

[ZiggyL78]

I thought GM used the nylon tooth timing gear to help the Survivor Police tell whether a motor had ever been apart. They knew that no one would ever put one back in ;)

Actually wasn't it for noise reduction? I would think a sproket made of alloy and nylon would be more costly then a steel gear. Don't get me wrong.I don't think it was a great idea.