To Gear drive or Not to Gear Drive?

[billybob]

Been awhile since I've posted anything interesting and after doing a search couldnt find anything of real use here on CAC on what I'm about to ask.

Gear Drive, Chain or Belt?

now obviously the chain is the stock boring interesting old standby but I figured while I had the motor apart I would investigate other options.

The 2 obvious choices were belt and gear.

I have looked at the belt idea but disliking the idea of replacing a metal part with a rubber one doesnt sound overly appealing to me no matter how much horse power they claim to give back to the motor.

So that leaves only one other option for an alternative.. a gear drive.

What are the pros and cons to a gear drive over a standard timing chain?

And what brand of gear drive would be considered the best?

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edit
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Whoops forgot to ask about gotchas, if you go gear what else can pop up as needed parts?


Thanks,

Bill

 

[69MyWay]

Gear drive=noisy
Gear drive=expensive
Gear drive=not needed on a street vette unless you like the noise and enjoy listing it as one of the more "expensive" items assembled on the engine (compared to the price of a good quality double roller chain).

You will have to answer questions to concerned people everywhere you go....

"Is that a blower I hear under the hood?"
"Hey, Buddy,,,,it sounds like your power steering pump is going bad.....I used to have Ford make the same noise before it died"
"Hey, Buddy, sounds like the pump in your trans is about to blow up...you better get that checked out"


So, there is my .02



BTW, if you are building a race motor that needs to have the capacity of making quick cam timing changes, the Gear or Belt is the only way to go.....on the race track.

 

[resto75]

I have a gear drive that was in the motor when I bought the car. If i ever need to take it apart the gear drive will be the first to go. Driving a 4speed car on the highway turns up enuff RPM's without it sounding like 7000 whe your turning 3000.

Chris is right about being asked questions about it. Everytime I go to a show or pull up to a group of people, someone will ask about the whine.

Go with a double roller chain. They have worked for years and are quiet. You won't wear it out before the rest of the motor so why mess with something that works.

Roy

 

[billybob]

Thanks guys,

Chris, about the gear drive being noisy, they do offer quiet models, but not sure how they compare to the 'noisy' models.

Price wise for a so called good double roller chain I've seen em listed for anywhere between 65-120 the gears all start at the 120 and work up to the 200 mark, in addition to the not for factory cams statement.

Info is info tho.

Bill

 

[JohnZ]

Huge waste of time, effort, and money - all they do is make noise and make others think your car is coming apart; just get a Cloyes true-roller timing set and be done with it.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Bill,
hopefully this link works for you. it is a 15 second clip of what to expect from a gear drive in a small block. http://www.c3sharktank.com/sound/JHLgeardrive.mpg
i hope this is usefull, Brian

 

[hotrodd]

One other thing to think about is they put alot more metal in the oil,Just my .02

 

[Jack]

Huge waste of time, effort, and money - all they do is make noise and make others think your car is coming apart; just get a Cloyes true-roller timing set and be done with it.

I agree. Cloyes true roller pn 9-3100 ... or its equivalents ... Speed-Pro pn 220-3100 ... and Clevite/DANA pn 93100BX.
JACK:gap

 

[billybob]

Wow,

That sound clip clinched the deal, no way in h***. Its a classic muscle car not a wind up toy.

I guess when it comes down to it, if the gear drives were that good they would be stock options on new cars, and its always hard to improve on something well desgined with to start.

Again thanks guys


Bill

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Bill,
glad you decided to look away from gear drives. they do have their place, open header alcohol burning circle tracking. they are the only way to go if spot on cam timing is your thing, but 99.99% of the world does not need them, Brian

 

[JHL]

Hi

Have a listen to the other end !!

Other End Please

I can understand people`s dislike of the gear drives but in my imho it is the best piece of kit for the job, especially a high reving small block like mine. I have commented on this topic in several other posts so if you do a search it will save me typing it all out again, the only possible mistake I made was to have the "noisey" gearset but I got used to it.

I can promise you the last thing my Vette sounds like is a wind up toy.

J.

 

[69autoXr]

I use a double roller on my LT-1 and have no trouble running 7200 rpm.

 

[Alwyn678]

Huge waste of time, effort, and money - all they do is make noise and make others think your car is coming apart; just get a Cloyes true-roller timing set and be done with it.

THAT SOUNDS HORRIBLE

 

[Dave L.]

Sounds like the power steering pump is shot!! What a waste of $$

 

[Ganey]

Gear drive is not rec. for the street. Best gear drive is 2 gears & rev. ground cam.

:cool

Something many don't consider is that in a Chevy V8 the chain is relatively short.

 

[maxrevs85]

The Jesel belt drive is the way to go.....precise, strong and quiet. And accessible thru a 2 piece cover.

 

[JHL]

Gear driven cams have been used in all sorts of road going cars and bikes over the years. The only problem in my case is the noise, if I had opted for the quiet gears no one ould have been any the wiser. Up until very recently Honda VFR motorbikes all had geardriven cams and the picture below is of an engine which was in use from the late 50`s to early 60`s.

J.