I was planning on using a quiet gear drive when I do a cam swap. But a fellow member on here said that on one guys setup he lost 40hp due to one. Is this true? I don't see how, it's basically just a better timing chain, right? I can't afford to lose that much HP with my setup.

 

NO!! Theres no way. He must have set his up wrong. There is actually less drag with idler gears than with chains. All diesels run gear drives. I doubt they would do this to get rid of horsepower (something they already have little of). Why quiet?? come on mark!! NOISY!! Let people think your running positive displacement .

 

I hear the quiet ones still make some noise, plus my bro can get one from a friend for real cheap or free, not sure yet. There's no way I'd buy one for $150.

 

From a double roller to a gear drive, yea you'll lose a little power. 40HP? LMFAO! Yea maybe if you had 1600hp on tap I could see losing that much... otherwise, something else was severly wrong.

 

I only have 15k on this engine, but I'm not sure if it's a double roller, I doubt it though. So, it won't hurt me too bad then to use a gear drive?

 

It's in this thread. Talk to F-Bird'88 about it.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=120599

 

Well, RB83L69 seems to dislike them.

 

i wouldn't use one. get a true double roller chain and gear set. you won't loose any power that you'd ever notice with one.

 

Well, considering it might be free for me I might use the gear drive.

As long as it won't take more than 5hp I'll be ok.

 

Take the annoyance factor into consideration...

Do you really want to drive around with a loud whine coming from your car at all times? It'll be cool for a couple of weeks but soon you may find yourself annoyed by it. If you do choose to use one then definately get the quiet version. It is still very loud.

Here is a sound clip of a "quiet" gear drive that someone had on here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~chris255/geardrive.wav

 

I wouldn't mind the noise as the car is no longer my dd.

 

Thats my car. You cant hear it on the freeway over the road noise and exhaust. Its really only noticeable at idle.

As for you wanting one, why? Thats the question you need to answer first.

 

Thought about getting a Jesel belt drive? I hear they are quiet as all get out and run smoother than a double roller.

 

I say if it doesn't verifiably make you go faster, why spend money on it? It's under the hood so it ain't even an appearance mod.

I guess getting it for free would be the only saving grace.

 

Exactly, it would be for free, as opposed to spending money on a double roller.
And I actually want that supercharger type of whine. Sounds cool to me, plus add in the lopey cam sound I will have, and it will sound mean. Now of course I'll have to do more modding later to back up the sound. Don't wanna sound like a *****, you know.

 

if you want the supercharger sound get a supercharger, *****

 

Personall, I love the gear drives. I had one in a 73 T/A I once owned.

A gear drive will increase power over a timing chain (even the dual roller types). A gear drive (either the single or dual idler) has less of a contact area than a timing chain setup. Less contact area= less friction... less friction=more power.

Secondly, a gear drive has no variance of timing between the crank on the cam shaft. A timing chain will stretch, even within the first 1000 miles of use, it'll stretch... and more so over time. As it stretches, the more you're timing will be off (it will advance more as the chain stretches). With a gerar drive, you will not encounter that problem.

Third (and what I like the most) is the whine!!! There's just something about the blower-type whine and cars. And MadMax is correct, anything about 40 mph you will not hear it over the road noise, wind and exhaust. In my 73 T/A, I had the noisy version and still couldn't hear it on the highway... but boy what it grab attention during the weekend cruise nights!!! :rockon:

As for the price of them, well... yeah, they are a little pricy. But, think about this... If you stay will a SMC, you'll never ever have to replace it again (unlike a timing chain), and you'll never have to worry about re-adjusting your timing during tune-ups. Set it once and forget about it!!!

Later,
Mike

 

Yeah, *****!

 

Jesel belt drive? Well... if you wanna spend the cash, IMO, that is the way to go.

 

Yes, guys I know, the SC is planned a few years down the road, once college is done.

I can't help it if the gear drive makes that noise.

 

The only thing that troubles me, Mark, is spending good money on a combo of parts that might not run as strong as a different combo. I'm the type who generally likes to do it once and do it right. I HATE having to redo something--especially when someone pointed out the error of my ways or told me to check it twice

A cam is probably the MOST important choice for any engine and, seeing as you are a poor student, choosing the right one is paramount because you HAVE to live with it for a few years at the least. The XE 268 might just be the perfect choice for your combo, which sounds like it has been well chosen thus far. I would, however, take a list of all my parts to F-Bird'88 or RB83L69, etc., and ask them to give you an impartial criticism of what you are doing and what you want to end up with. They will have the right answer for YOU.

I really like seeing a person happy with their engine the first time around

 

Very good point. I'll PM RB.

 

If it is for free, they give it a try. What do you have to lose? A couple dollars in gaskets, some antifreeze and some time. I for one would not run a gear drive since they have been shown to be harmful to the valvetrain. I run a belt, since it is REAL easy to make cam timing changes. Did the belt give me HP, no. Can I soften up the bottomend for some street racing, hell yes!

Its your car, we only offer opinions......

 

<b>Do you really want to drive around with a loud whine coming from your car at all times? It'll be cool for a couple of weeks but soon you may find yourself annoyed by it. If you do choose to use one then definately get the quiet version. It is still very loud. </b> Well if we had a loud exhaust the whine wouldnt be a problem now would it?

<b> if you want the supercharger sound get a supercharger, ***** </b>

I have a supercharger AND a gear drive. my supercharger doesnt make ANY NOISE at idle at all!!! The gear drive just makes up for its absense. when I hit boost however, and you can no longer hear the gear drive, the supercharger takes over with its own whine. Beleive it or not, they dont sound anything alike when you hear one right after another.