How to Assemble the Front of a Small Block
Howdy.
Just reading this thread and I have a couple of questions. I have a couple of engines here at the moment so I've just been out to check. Two of then have after market twin row roller chains and gears but no oil slinger, one has the standard chain and gears and an oil slinger. Is there room for the oil slinger to still fit with the wider bottom gear? Wonder why two people would have left it off?
The second question is wouldn't it make more sense to put the bolt with the lubricating feed hole on the lifter gallery side so it has a bit of presssure?
Cheers
As far as I've seen all engines left the factory with an oil slinger. Many people who work on the small blocks that don't know them very well, sometimes miss that when putting them back together.
Some engines came with the drip tab from the factory, some did not. I prefer it as it directs the oil to drip directly on the lower crank gear. The oil slinger helps "sling" or throw the oil around so it lubricates the chain.
I've seen many engines that shade tree mechanics have worked on where they plug the oil hole that the special bolt goes into.
Yes, the oil slinger will fit with the double roller timing chain. They came on factory 340's and had no problem...
The last question, for oiling with a hole in the oil galley plug. I've seen some people recommend drilling a small diameter hole in one to help feed oil. This can work, but I would be careful not to use to large of a drill as if the hole gets too big, it may bleed a little oil pressure off the system... The hole on the top passenger side where the special bolt with the hole goes into is designed to let the oil from the lifter valley drain onto the timing chain. The gravity fed oil is plenty to lubricate the chain, you don't need pressurized oil to spray on it. It wouldn't hurt if done properly, but not necessary. The stock way is good enough for most street engines...
I've taken apart a few "virgin" factory small blocks over the years and know how they go together. I wrote this section to pass along how they are supposed to go back together, because many of the ones that other people have worked on have not been done properly. I wanted to let people know how the factory did it so they can put it together the same way as it was meant to be put together by the manufacturer...
