Hi dave, thanks for your quick reply.I bought a rebuilt engine from another member & were not sure what size it is,he thinks its a 14L,on the rear of the head reads 8LA-616? and front reads 2/18/26 also block casting dist side reads "M" and manifold side reads 2-3-27 and under that "C" I wanted to check the timing from the rebuit shop and according to some of the stuff im reading it looks like they are wrong.Im not sure if its a durant or a star.Hope this can help.
With #1 piston at TDC #1 exhaust valve (valve closest to the radiator) should be closed but the lifter still in contact with the cam lobe. On the motor mount plate, there should be stamped the number of links between the mark on the tooth of the crank gear and the marked tooth on the cam gear. The mark is a "dot" on the face of the 2 gears. On the 15L I'm working on it was 13 links. Mine was marked where the gasket fits, so you may have to scrape a bit. It states links but it is actually pins.
If you have questions you can email me at schulte3@mepotelco.net or call me at 319-850-1903
hi dave, thanks for the second reply. After following your instructions to the letter, I did some scraping and found on the block, that it is a 14 l. And also on the mounting plate I found that it's 13 links and also found the "0"'s on the gears. I timed it and had a friend who is a mechanic check it out. He said it was timed perfectly. I am sure glad I found this site and I will let you know when I fire it up but it will be awhile. thanks much again. bob
Sorry to bug you again,Im thinking to much.as I said mine is 13 links ( pins ) is that 13 from "o" to "o" counting both "o's.the engine rebuilder had 13 links between the " o " Im sure ill be a durant mechanic when im done.
Dave: I agree with your discription for setting the valve timing up to the point when you mention the "pins". On the front of the engine mounting plate, their will be stamped, as you say, the number of "links" not pins. You need to make certain their is the specified number of full "Links" between each of the "0" marks on the crank and cam gears. After the installation, verify that you did it correctly by going through the valve timing proceedure for your particular engine/car stated on the "Tech Page" of this site.
You would think so, but if you turn the crank to #1TDC, and the cam to where #1EX valve closes but remains in contact with cam. There is no way you can have 13 full links and keep the cam and crank in correct position.
I have some crow to eat.......S. Blomquist is right. My problem was how I counted links. I counted the outside plates as links, like roller chain. (Maybe I do that wrong too!) Anyway that would make way too much chain between the dots. The correct way is to count the inner and outer plates as links. If you time it according to the pins you are 1 tooth off. I took my engine apart today to make sure. I am VERY SORRY for the misinformation and any difficulties I have caused.