I bought a Jeg's timing gear set for sbc with hydraulic roller cam. In the instructions, all the pics are for flat tappet cams, and it shows the axle of the large power idler gear as having a chamfer on the side that faces the block. My set is different. Both of my idler axles are flat with no chamfer, and the power idler axle is significantly longer than the small idlers, and it sticks out farther on one side. Does anyone know which end faces the timing cover, the long end or short end? I called Jeg's but the guy I got didn't seem to know his a$$ from his elbow.

 

Are you putting a gear drive on a efi engine? The knock sensor aint gonna like it.
I'd post up a picture of what you've got.

 

Why won't the knock sensor like it?

 

Is it cuz the timing is too responsive?

 

The noise they make, even the quiet ones make too much noise (vibration in the block). Goolge it & read up.

 

Great, and I got the noisy one too.

 

Just send it back and get a good quality chain set. There is no reason to use a gear drive EVER. I kept thinking I was going to run into a combination where I'd eventually need a gear drive. I never have. I've talked to several pro engine builder and they haven't either! Just forget you ever heard of a gear drive. They're a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist.

 

I already installed it tho!

 

Does anyone know if Jeg's will take it back after it's been installed. And also, I'm a little confused. I see a bunch of timing sets that say "with factory roller," and then I see a bunch that say "with cam thrust bearing." Which kind do I need? I have a hydraulic roller cam, but don't I want a cam thrust bearing as well?

 

I put one in mine it's doin good no lights are on it's no even messing with my knock sensor

 

You're making a mistake.

Don't do it.

Sell that POS to the next "greater fool" (yes, we're dealing with HUMANS, so there's ALWAYS a "greater fool") and get the right thing for your car. Chalk up whatever money you lose on the deal, as an installment payment on your hot-rod training tuition.

 

In the Summit catalog it states that gear drives are not to be used with engines with knock sensors.

If your block is a factory roller cam casting, then you would select a timing chain with an application for "with factory roller".

The factory roller cam is held in place by a thin plate bolted over the end of the cam to the block. This plate is what stops the cam from moving back and forth in the block. The back and forth movement is what is called camshaft end play.

The difference between "with factory roller" and "with cam thrust button" is that the "with factory roller" set, the back of the cam gear will have more clearance built into it to clear the cam thrust plate. Any timing set can be used, but the cam thrust plate may have to be ground down on the edges to clear the cam timing gear.

 

So, does the cam sprocket run against the cam retainer plate?

 

Yup

The block is always the same; but, the cam sprocket plus the retainer plate in the roller system, take up the space that the sprocket by itself does in the flat system

 

Yes, that is what I was getting at. A timing set for a roller cam will have the back of the cam sprocket recessed to take into account the thickness of the cam thrust plate.

You would be better off selling what you have and just getting a proper double roller timing chain set designed for the style of block you are using.

 

As stated remove it and get the right Timing Chain set for your engine.

You will be out the money for the gear drive, but keep it in and you may be out an even greater amount.

 

I'm going to return it and get a Comp chain drive set. I installed it, but the engine hasn't been run. It's not even in the car yet.

 

They'll take it back unless you buggered it up putting it on (or taking it off). Spray it down with Brakleen to get any oil or fingerprints off of it.

 

Well they give you this plate that you install under the cam bolts and you bend these tabs up over the bolt heads to lock them in place. That thing is all screwed up for obvious reasons. I'm hoping they don't notice it's missing. It's like a 5 cent piece of sheet metal.

 

It's called a cam bolt lock plate. You can pick one up in any speed shop or online.