93Bandit

What cheap timing set brand is ok? I found a set for $30, but that sounds too cheap.

nrivera04

Personally, I like Cloye's timing parts. I know they're Napa's vendor, but I don't know who else. $30-$40 sounds about right.

rbohm

not a bad price, here are a number of them though from rock auto from about $17 to about $225. personally i would go with the cloyes or the mahl, or sealed power brands. you can get the stock typo replacement chains for $35 or less.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/f...iming+set,5756

93Bandit

I you guys like cloyes, I'll get this one http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/se...150&vi=5005975

93Bandit

In case anyone cares or is curious, I was able to get the bolt out by drilling three holes along the length of the bolt and soaked in liquid wrench. Then I applied generous amounts of heat and used vicegrips to break it loose. It finally came out.

As far as the rest of the repair, it went fairly well. I ran into a few other minor complications but I got it all back together and it seems to be running well so far. No leaks that I have found yet. The whole system was terribly un-maintained so I replaced all the hoses that come in contact with coolant as well as the radiator. I also flushed the system as best as I could and replaced the thermostat. My heater is definitely hotter now as well.

As for the timing chain and gears, I'm glad I went ahead and took the advise and replaced them. The truck seems to run smoother, and it definitely idles much better. It used to have a wobble/shake at a constant interval during warm idle, but now it's very smooth. Hopefully that will improve the overall performance and maybe my mpg will go up a bit.

Overall, I'm glad I finally got the repair over with. However, next time I'm going to wait until warmer weather to do something like this again. It was cold!

rbohm

excellent work.

nrivera04

93Bandit

The weather forecast for this weekend claims 50 degrees. I should have waited until this weekend to finish the repair instead of doing it in the un-insulated garage while being 5 below outside. I had a propane heater, but it barely kept the area of the garage I was working in above freezing.

Advise to anyone who may be using a propane heater in an unventilated space for extended periods of time, get some fresh air every hour. I did not pay attention to the air quality until I was coughing so bad I couldn't hold a tool in my hand and was dizzy with tunnel vision. It took me a second to realize what was going on. As soon as I figured it out, I opened the garage door for a while and took a break in the fresh, but very cold, outside air. No one else was home so if I had passed out I imagine it wouldn't have ended well.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

You were talking about drain plugs on the 302. This is a 96 block - you can see the drain plugs right behind the first and 3rd frost plug. For future reference. Glad you didn't gas yourself too badly.

93Bandit

Awesome, thanks for the picture! I'll keep that in mind.