Timing Chain & Gear Issue

[BuickNut]

I've got a question....do the timing chain and gears need to be bought and then installed as a set from the same maker - or can they be bought from different makers and then installed as a set ?

[Guest]

It should not make an difference. I can tell you from personal experience about my 68 Wildcat. When I installed the new timing chain, the new crankshaft spocket did not fit. So, I put the old one back on. New chain, new camshaft spocket, old crankshaft sprocket. It works.

[NTX5467]

When those cars were new, when a timing chain was needed, no one typically wanted to pull the crankshaft sproket off so all that was changed was the camshaft sproket (which probably had some broken or missing nylon teeth) and a new timing chain was installed then too. Unless the crank sproket had a lot of wear, it was left alone.<P>You can debate if it's best to use "matched" items, but they all are supposed to be built to the same blueprints anyway--otherwise they would not work correctly. There might be some differences in the quality of the parts between the less expensive and the respected name brands, but for a stock motor I suspect most anything will work acceptably well.<P>Of course, you can always put a roller chain setup in there and not worry about it for a loooong time. I put a Cloyes Plus Roller set in my '77 Camaro at 92,000 and it now has 565,000 on the unrebuilt engine and same timing chain set. But when you do that upgrade, they are sold in a matched set and it does take all three pieces.<P>Just some thoughts . . .<BR>NTX5467

[palbuick]

On many original Buick motors the large gear had a plastic covering on the gears, GM stated to keep noise down. After many miles the palstic broke and caused some rough idle, and a sloppy chain. It is best to replace the cam gear and new chain together, as for the crank gear, depends on how it has worn, if it looks really worn replace. Some times easier to replace al three at once.