I set mine up with news print as well.
More like $450+/- if I’m not mistakenSounds like another $800.00 I gotta fork out now, lol
Mines big blockMore like $450+/- if I’m not mistaken
Big money!Mines big block
But only once.Big money!
That's true. I'm guilty of buying stuff twice now since I'm going drag only car, but I do have enough for street engine now !But only once.
I am far from sold on the gear drive. I ran a Milodon on my bb for 16 years. I suffered a lot of valvetrain issues. I can't say for certain that it was related to the gear drive, but the possibility that it was , added to a well known engine builder telling me he has seen power losses everytime one is used has me switching to a belt drive.
They do make some noise. Oem customer might not be happy with that. My Cummins uses them lol.WHAT I`VE READ , THE GEAR DRIVE TRANSFERS A LOT OF HARMONICS TO THE VALVE TRAIN , WHY DOESNT THE FACTORY USE THEM ??
Chrysler used gear to gear but not on cars & trucks IIRCWHAT I`VE READ , THE GEAR DRIVE TRANSFERS A LOT OF HARMONICS TO THE VALVE TRAIN , WHY DOESNT THE FACTORY USE THEM ??
What harmonic balancer were you using?I am far from sold on the gear drive. I ran a Milodon on my bb for 16 years. I suffered a lot of valvetrain issues. I can't say for certain that it was related to the gear drive, but the possibility that it was , added to a well known engine builder telling me he has seen power losses everytime one is used has me switching to a belt drive.
I am guessing the more agressive the overall engine build, the higher the POSSIBILITY of damage from harmonics. Like you say, it would take a lot of testing .As for the power loss...I can’t say. You’d need several days on the dyno to sort it out. I do know a friend was running a gear drive and he almost couldn’t sleep at night because he was worried about his valve train getting killed, even though we looked at both our stuff every winter and never saw a thing.
I am guessing the more agressive the overall engine build, the higher the POSSIBILITY of damage from harmonics. Like you say, it would take a lot of testing .
I have also changed cams, springs, pushrods in the combo. So there is no way for me to verify anything.
I due run a good damper. ATI Superdamper.
So why did Chrysler develop a factory chain tensioner if the chain stays tight?It's my understanding that with drag cars gear drives are not that beneficial when the load is pretty much directly positive keeping the chain assembly tight under acceleration and a small amount of timing variation under low load is not really a concern of mine. Gear drives become more of a benefit when RPMs are sawed back and forth in applications such as circle track racing or similar types of use. Also gear drives can produce harmonics and are less forgiving in their setups. For those reasons I would never really consider one for my application.
What I don't have money to spend on is bent valves and a broken motor.I have no concerns about what I feel are insignificant timing events changes in the low load. if your road racing or circle track racing it may be an option but for a street /strip nope .if you have nothing more to spend money on than buy a gear drive. But a belt drive would be the direction I would move if I really felt the need to. To each their own!
The key word is "fixed idler"A correctly installed quality gear drive makes zero noise. None. One part of the article I didn’t agree with. I don’t use paper to set the gear lash, I use a dial indicator and it set the lash at .002 and send it. I’ve used them for years on the street and not once has anyone asked if I have a gear drive. They don’t ask because they can’t hear it.
As for the harmonics, I can say I’ve never found an SAE paper or any other peer reviewed article on a fixed idler gear drive transferring harmonics. Not one. I asked a guy on SpeedTalk years ago to show me a detailed paper with an analysis of gear drive harmonics using a fixed idler gear drive and he posted a paper where they tested a chain, a floating idler gear drive and a belt, but nothing on a fixed idler.
I’m open to reading any decent paper(s) on gear train harmonics as it relates to fixed idler cam drives to change my mind. 30 plus years of running them says I’ll never find it.
As for the power loss...I can’t say. You’d need several days on the dyno to sort it out. I do know a friend was running a gear drive and he almost couldn’t sleep at night because he was worried about his valve train getting killed, even though we looked at both our stuff every winter and never saw a thing.
So he sprung for a belt, thinking he’d find some ET in it and nothing. At the end of the year, we took the engine apart and it looked the same. He was shifting at 8000 and it was a stick car.
Here is an article comparing the pros and cons of different drives.