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the cam/distributor gear issue

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dane View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 1:18pm
All I need now is a harmonic balancer puller and I'll be ready to pull the timing cover and take a look. Does anyone make a puller that you do not have to wedge or block something in the flywheel/flexplate?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whizkidder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 2:37pm
I assume you are having a problem with the engine turning over while trying to turn the screw on the puller to pull the balancer off?

You could pull a plug and use a piston stop to block the rotation. My puller has a square ear on one side for an additional wrench to keep it from turning.
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SC397 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote SC397 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 6:35pm
Just go and buy a $10.00 Harbor Freight Harmonic balancer puller.  Do not use the the 3 jaw type.
A Cloyes set is better than most so the oil passage to the distributor gear should be OK.  Here is a picture of the oil passage from the cam through the timing gear.

Here is the Cloyes and a cam that I had laying around.  I ground off a drill bit to use as a pointer and stick it on the cam hole. As you can see, Cloyes on this particular cam is ok.  All parts have to be checked no mater what the brand name is.
   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amx39068 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 9:34pm
X2.  I popped a 343 blanacer ring right off the hub with a claw type puller.  Admittedly the balancer was pretty worn but it was wasted after the outer ring popped off.  Any parts store has a decent puller for around $30
Dan Curtis-Owner and CEO AZ AMC Restorations; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amcmusclecars/ & Curtis Real Estate Development
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dane View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 9:36pm
Got it out tonight, Yeah it's toast! Rented a balancer puller from the parts store. The timing cover appears to be OE. The pins were still in the block so I'm feeling pretty good about everything. Hopefully it was just a bad gear!?

Edited by dane - Feb/06/2013 at 9:42pm
1974 Matador Coupe Brougham aka "The Mat"
1975 Matador Coupe Oleg Cassini Edition
1969 Javelin SST (Project Car) - SOLD but not forgotten
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Charles Smiley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 9:44pm
SC397.
 
That litttle milled pocket on the back of the gear was rotated so much on my cloyes set that the path for oil was eclipsed about 90-percent. They must have made mine at 8:01-AM after a 3 day weekend.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Charles Smiley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/06/2013 at 9:45pm
Dane.
 
I hope you drop the pan and give everything a good clean up. Mine had lots of crud in it. None of it got part the filter though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 6PakBee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/07/2013 at 4:09pm
Originally posted by 69 ambassador 390 69 ambassador 390 wrote:

........ That is why you should be very carefull when removing a stuck or corroded distributor housing from the bore.  You will have no way of knowing if the top of the cover got tweeked.  Aftermarket non-factory gears often do not match the proper material or tooth profile and this adds to the problem when we change those.  A matched set of used gears with a good wear pattern or a matched and lapped set of new gears from a trusted vendor are the only safe bet.  Same goes for any cove, whether used or new.  If you had to us any force to remove a corroded in distributor housing, then the cover would be highly suspect, even if the pump cavity checked out fine.  The top of the housing that locates the distributor is very easy to distort.  We are talking only a few thousandths before the issue arises.......... 
 
 
I don't have any experience in disassembling corroded aluminum components (distributors).  Any recommendations as to how to do it?  A little heat, lots of Kroil, both, ?????
Roger Gazur
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SC397 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SC397 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/07/2013 at 6:12pm
""SC397.
That litttle milled pocket on the back of the gear was rotated so much on my cloyes set that the path for oil was eclipsed about 90-percent. They must have made mine at 8:01-AM after a 3 day weekend."

Hmm.  I buy them 6 to 12 sets at a time and at least my last batch of 6 were OK.  It stands to reason though, they were probably all machined in the same batch.  You just have to check every part, every time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Charles Smiley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/07/2013 at 6:56pm
Yeah, I've bought Cloyes since about 1970.
 
It's possible that it was the cam and how it indexed to the gear and not the gear itself. But I had no way to compare it to other parts at the time. I just milled the cavity to fit the situation.
 
I also found several Engle cams that had the "snout" much longer than stock and the front screw was nearly touching the back of the water pump cavity in the timing cover. So if the cam walks forward a tiny bit, the star-points on the screw dig into the aluminum and the screw jacks its way out and blows a hole into the water pump.
 
Scary stuff huh? So I started smoothing the star points off the bolt - thinner washer - checking the clearance with play-dough and adopting an anti-walk plate for the cam henceforth.
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