Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Pulled my HEI dist. and installed a MSD 6al and one of Dave's distrubators and nothing. No fire and no fuel... HHMM??? Pulled the cap and no movement. Did the roll pin on the gear break??? Not likely, the rotor will not move, but that will not prevent fuel from being pumped. o No: Now Im lost. Pulled the dist. and it spins freely...o No: HHHMMM??? Cranked it over to see all the parts move, ie cam, timing chain. Boy the engine seems to crank awful freely. AH SH@T, WHY IS THE CAM/TIMING GEAR AND CHAIN NOT MOVING!!!!:stmad: :stmad: :stmad: AAAAHHHHHH!!! Stuck a long screwdriver in the dist hole and the timing chain sure seems to have a lot of slop, TOO MUCH!!!! What the hell!!! I drove it in to change the ignition out???? Why did it puke??? I REALLY HATE OLD CARS!!!! Time to spend the bonus . Not what I had intended to spend it on.....

 

Hmm... sounds like opportunity knocking...honey I need a new camshaft, mines umm....broken, yeah that's it!
Sorry to hear it though, pulling that timing cover in the car sucks.

 

She beat me to the punch, and said since these projects tend to snow ball why dont I trade it in on a new car and that way I wont have make this one new . Dam, she know me too well. I've beening eye balling a hemi killer cam, too. Oh well, I think sugery will start tonight. Ill take some pics if I find anything weird.

 

Hey Woodie - Buck up !! Thats no CAR you're working on.....thats a Genuine STAGE 1 !!!!! and a '69 to boot :beer

Roll up the sleeves, dig in deep and dont look back. You cant buy a new car that has 1/100th the class

Why dont you throw a party like Ken is gonna with his GSX and have some local guys over to perform the surgery together. It'll make it alot more fun.

 

Please don't trade the car in. To a dealer, it's an old car. Your wife might think of it as a used car, I don't know, but it's not "just a used car"

Can't expect a 35 year old car to behave like a brand new oneo No:

 

SoCal GS Club

Hey, Woodie. Aren't you a member of the SoCal Club? Put out a plea for help on the yahoo club email group and maybe we can get some of the folks together and help.

 

Chris: She was joking, because I have a new truck on order, and she knows how to push my buttons.

Skip; It crossed my mind to ger a hold of Doug but I work on it between family time. About one hour a night about 10 minutes at a time. But it should be appart before tommarow night, and then I can fully determine the problem.

Michael

 

Got it appart and found a broken double roller timing chain. No idea how I broke it??? o No: Drove it into the garage and installed the ignition. The cam turns freely (as free as it should). Guess its time to call TA and spend $$$.

Is the timing gear/fuel pump ecentric/ dist drive gear part of the cam or is it seperate???

 

Thats a new one all right.

All part of the cam on a big block.

 

SOO... If I do not get a new cam, all I would need to buy is a chain??? And what are the two bolts on the timing chain gear for???

Sorry, I just a simple ford guyo No: .

 

Did you check for clearance with the fuel pump arm on your timing chain???

 

Are you referring to the 2 bolts that hold the timing gear to the cam?

Also, is there any chance those 2 bolts stick out too far towards the block side of the cam? I know that's probably a stretch...but it's a possibility.

I think Adam probably has it right - with the fuel pump arm hitting the chain. What shape is the arm in?

 

Sounds like you just need a timing set. Check clearance as stated by others when you install it.

 

And if the pump arm rubs the chain the fix is to just elongate the holes and slide the pump forward a hair to avoid hitting the chain.

Oh, and VERY weird that the chain would break the second you shut it off in the garage to pull the distributor. VERY weird...

 

Adam is the winner!!! Timming chain rubbing the pump arm. Looks like an easy fix. Time to buy parts. The scary thing is this engine has less than 2000 miles on it, ( I did not build it, was rebuilt b4 I got the car).

By the way how do I shrink pics so I can include happy snaps.

Michael

 

You can send them to my email addres, and I'll resize them for you!:beer

adamm@buickpartsdirectory.com

 

Different dist?

I read this lastnight and after thinking about it I decided to post.(which is something I havent done in a while) Since the only thing changed before the chain broke is the distributor I would inspect that part against the old.

Woodie, since you are admittedly new to buicks you need to be told that the 350 and 400/430/455 buicks allthough they share a distributor body they require a unique distributor drive gear. Count the teeth on your hei then count the teeth on your new unit. I think you'll find that you have a 350 gear on the new distributor which due to its size will allow the distributor to drop in place but it will not turn. That I think is what broke your timing chain. Let us know:Comp:

 

HHHMMM, I look at that. Never thought of that. Ill let you know tonight.

Michael

 

Timing Chain/Fuel Pump

I think I slotted the mounting holes in my fuel pump and bent the arm to allow it to mount without having the chain rub on it.