Timing cover and dress up???

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SD65WAGON

SD65WAGON

Justin
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
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Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Well......After replacing te NON-existant thermostst last week with a 190 degree on the wagon actually got to operating temperature and was happy....until I developed a Pressure leak between the Timing cover and the block on the top passenger side......Of course it had to happen just as I pulled into the Emergency room to get a cut finger stitched up.....Kind bad day all around. So I got a new water pump to put on and the correct hoses to replace those cheap spring filled flex hoses that rust away into the cooling system.........And I just realized that I have to pull the harmonic balancer and dro the oil pan to get this damn thing fixed......
So I am looking for a replacement timing cover (aftermarket) and timing set and a dress up kit to replace some of the SHI#&IEST cast parts I have ever seen on an engine...........I had to hone the thermostat housing onthe manifold and the top hose connector when I replaced the thermostat last week and anticipate having to do the same to EVERY other part I try to put back together with this 1965 273......So if you can help directing me to some better aftermarket parts I would be thankfull.(Timing cover, Timing kit, upper radiator hose connector....etc.) Plus i wonder If I have to completely remove the oil pan to do this job??????
 
You don't have to remove or even drop the oil pan to do the job. The timing chain cover will come out without doing that. I haven't ever had any problems with getting parts to fit right no matter where I buy them. Don't know exactly what to tell you there except your thermostat housing must have been a cheap Chinese part or just defective. I don't know of a place that sells new timing covers. If their really bad I look for a good used one. I haven't had one yet that silicone wouldn't seal up but I'm sure I've just been lucky. Maybe put a want ad in our want ad section for what you need.
 
Thats good to hear, obviously this is my first time into this motor. Other times I have done this have been on Chevy 350's. The Thermostat housing issue was just pitted corrosion and it being cast iron on cast iron.......So the gasket did not seat properly and it leaked until I honed the pitting out of the manifold and the upper hose fitting.
Any tricks or cautionary tales with the harmonic balancer or timing gears and chain?
 
Nice thing is the timing cover is allot easier to R&R than a sb chevy. I thought maybe yours was cast. That's why it pitted so bad. No real tricks except be careful if you have to pry on the cover. Being cast it's brittle. If you've done a Chevy everything else is about the same. Oh yeah one thing different about Mopars is the front rubber seal that seals the timing cover to the oil pan is sandwiched by the oil pan. I take a new razor blade and slice the old gasket and just silicone up the corners good with high temp silicone like ultra copper or the likes. Never had a leak yet doing it that way.
 
Fishy,
Thanks for the sage input man, kinda puts me in a better mood knowing its not the pain in the *** a sb chevy is.....not that a sb chevy is hard, just time consuming...
I will be careful when seperating the cover from the block and keep the board up to speed on progress or stoppages......gotta find some parts and my balancer puller tomorrow.
 
The other thing I would add is watch those water pump and timing chain cover bolts. Some of them go into the water jacket. A lot of times they are rusted. Don't remove them with air tools. Use a wrench and turn them back and forth to loosen them up. If they bind turn them in and then out and repeat. I snapped one off and had to drill it out of the block because I put my air ratchet on it and it snapped right off.
 
After pulling the cover, inspect it completely. Water cavitation over 30-40 years can eat the alum out and reduce direction and even thin the part so much it could leak thru to the outside. Also check the area to the sides of the timing chain for wear. If someone has run an old timing chain for a long period, you can have dangerous wear there also. If your part checks out, use it. If not use a new one for the 70's motor.
I had to replace a water pump last year which meant I had to pull the bolts that go thru the timing cover into the block. I didn't notice till I got it back together with antifreeze that the gasket broke between the timing cover and the block. Then I had to pull it all apart and of course, I replaced the timing chain as preventive maintaince. I went to Tractor Supply and got new Grade 8 bolts also, I thought it was cheap insurance.
 
Maybe a stupid question, but why isn't there a billet timing cover for my 340??? Not that I could find at least. I don't necessarily want one, it always struck me as odd compared to all the engine dress up available for the SB chevy.
 
Chrome plated chain covers are for bicycles and bowties.
I've dressed up the interior of my mopar cause thats where I spend my time.
I suppose if I spent more hours under the hood I might want to dress that up instead.
Honestly.. I did buy a chrome timing cover for a chevy 350 once but only becuase aftermarket with gaskets was half the price of a stock unpainted sheetmetal cover from the GM dealer.
 
rednesss said:
Maybe a stupid question, but why isn't there a billet timing cover for my 340??? Not that I could find at least. I don't necessarily want one, it always struck me as odd compared to all the engine dress up available for the SB chevy.
Click to expand...


Look around and you'll see tons more stuff of every sort for chevy's. The aftermarket has never catered to Mopars like they do chevy's. Why? Well probably cause they made several million more chevy sb's than mopar sb's so since their's more sb chevy's that means more buyers. Aftermarket companies don't care about selling just 20 or 30 thousand parts. They go for the big numbers where the big money is. That's just my guess.
 
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