……the morning was on the busy side….out of dog food and everything!
Having a little time before lunch, I thought I would show you a couple of things that interest me around the shop and talk about timing chains on our Olds motors.
First some fun:
Check out the to the front roof rail on this 1973 #41 prototype named “Ruby”.
and there’s more interesting stuff on this original one off ladder
WILD! Most of out restorations don’t sport the Continental look spare tire….in this case I think we need the tire to keep the back from looking like a race track! Its coming soon…….
The first fit of the extended storage bumper. The SS bumper was wedge cut and welded to give more room in the middle. This is how this fab stuff is done…
I caught Terry painting POR-15 rust killer and coating on the Airstream extended trailer tongue.
He’ll do a second epoxy texture coat over that……this is the tongue Phillip caved up extending it 10″ for better towing characteristics….. complete with diamond plate front platform
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……………………………. UPDATED
So now for a little timing chain talk…..let me go get some lunch and I’ll be back…..
So as you know, our Olds distributer rotate opposite from a Chevy motor and I don’t know it’s because that but at 70-90,000 miles the original plastic and even replacement single row timing chain/gear set will loosen. Here is a 23′ coach we’re doing mechanical. 
In the discovery we found the timing chain super loose.
you can easily see the loose chain with the water pump and this timing cover off
but a question was asked last night how could you check for a timing chain issue without talking all that off…..good question so let me answer that first:
My Dad told me when buying a used car, “replace the tires and battery….at least you know those are good…..” I feel when it comes to one of these Olds motors, at least check the timing chain if not just replace it. That way you KNOW your motor does not suffer from this common problem PLUS you’ll have a new water pump and fan clutch……2 other issues on older motors but lets check this chain issue…….You can move the harmonic balancer with a wrench on the big bolt up front and watch how long it takes for the distributer rotor to start moving…..the real way for certain is to pull the mechanical fuel pump (not real fun but there it is) to stick your finger in to feel the chain. Move the harmonic balancer and you will know. If your motor has mile or years on it chances are you will find a loose chain so remember keeping the cam and crank in alignment is literally the single best thing you can do for your motor…. A new double roller, true roller timing chain like this one (Cloyes 9-3113)
and with a NEW water pump and fan clutch, new belts and all the front of your motor will have been addressed. Takes our guys @ 1 1/2 – 2 days work to renew all of that…… also suspect the front motor mount you can see in that timing chain cover pic above.
Working with old stuff like this your goal should be renew anything you spend labor time to pull off. That way more clocks get turned back and your reliability increases.
By all means this isn’t the only motor issue, the cracked intake is another biggie but we’ll talk about that another time.
A quick Happy Birthday to Janie my wife of 40 years, our older son Ray and I helped her eat some carrot cake last night 
doing family stuff at Orange Lake Resort putt-putt golf was a must.
Yeah I bet!…..You’ve heard of putting “English” on the ball, I think my son was giving that ball PIG LATIN to make it go in!
and dared it to not listen! It was a tough 18 holes……I mean LOOK at where the cup is!
WSas getting dark on the 18th and I was happy…..too much drama….It was a great time together 
So yesterday I bugged out of the shop early for good reason……today it looks to be another reason to live in Florida…hi of 84……nice. Have a prospective GMCnet flew in yesterday from Richmond to see and learn more about these things and maybe pick 1 up……..I’m telling ya, folks are interested!
Thanks for the visit, see u tomorrow
