davek1661

I have the motor out of my 1964 Dynamic 88, it's the standard 2 bbl "green" 394. I've pulled the manifold and the valley pan and the oil pan. I set the timing mark on the balancer/pulley to 0 TDC. I can see the lifters for #1 cylinder are both on the back side of the cam- valves are closed. Using a screwdriver in the spark plug hole, I can feel the #1 piston is at the top of the bore and the distributor rotor is pointing to #1 spark plug wire. I've confirmed all this several times, and I have never removed the timing chain or the distributor. The car ran fine before I pulled the engine. It appears the timing is set correctly and right now it's at TDC on the #1 cylinder. So weird- I removed the pulley and the timing cover and the timing marks on the gears are opposite each other. My tech book says the camshaft timing gear's mark should be straight down and the mark on the crankshaft timing gear should be straight up, so they're pointing at each other. Instead, my crankshaft mark is up, like it should be, but the camshaft mark is at the top, not at the bottom. Could it be someone installed the timing chain wrong? Could the top gear simply be installed 180 degrees out while everything else is correct? It's just a reference mark after all. Maybe someone installed it facing up instead of down with everything else set correctly to TDC. Is that even possible? Maybe it's an after market timing set?

Also, I suspect there might be too much slack in the timing chain. It's not as tight as I expected. To test it for slack, I turned the crank to 0 degrees on the timing mark. and then I rotate the crank backwards while watching the distributor for rotation- with the cap removed of course. Once the slack in the timing chain is used up, the distributor begins to move. Then I rotate the crank back the other way, until again I see movement in the distributor. I get about 8 degrees of rotation free play. One website I saw recommended around 4 or 5 degrees for a Chevy small block- which of course may mean nothing to my Olds 394. How much slack should there be in the timing chain?

I tried to take pictures but my phone is messed up. Every time I try to use the camera it shuts off. Not my day for tech! Any help/advice is appreciated... with the car, not the phone.

joe_padavano

The timing marks will be at 6:00/12:00 with the number one cylinder at TDC on the exhaust stroke and at 12:00/12:00 on the compression stroke. Nothing to see here.

davek1661

Well, thank you. I was under the impression they were 6/12 on the compression stroke. The tech guide just says to align the marks as shown using gauge BT-11. I just assumed that would be on the compression stroke. That's on me, thanks. Any opin on the free play/slack? 8-10 degrees of rotation seems like a lot of slack.

joe_padavano

Yes, that seems excessive, but frankly with the engine that far apart, I'd put in a new timing set no matter how much free play there was.

joe_padavano

By the way, how far "west of Worcester"? I grew up in Shrewsbury.

davek1661

We're in Warren. My son's soccer team has played Shrewsbury 2 or 3 times a year for nearly 10 years. Those Shrewsbury boys play tough and hard nosed, just like our kids. They talk a lot of trash- more than they should really, because our boys beat them as often as they beat us. Not as bad as Charleton/David Prouty, though. Warren borders Ware and Palmer, Sturbridge and Brimfield to the south, and the Brookfields to the east.

And yeah, I was thinking I should replace the timing set since I have it open. Thanks for your expertise. Hsve a great night, IO hope you're enjoying the game.

Charlie Jones

When I was in the auto repair industry years ago we considered 4 or 5 degrees acceptable wear.
At 6 degrees, the car still ran, but not so well.
At 8 degrees or more it was "out to lunch".
That standard applied to any V-8 engine.
I think 1964 was the beginning of the "nylon timing gear madness".
Be interesting to see what yours has.

Sugar Bear

X2...Folks "tune" the most they can with a stretched timing chain and worn gears by adjusting dwell, ignition timing and the carburetor. They can be made to run better but never to their full potential with the valve timing off. With a new chain and gears it will be tuned closer and run better.

joe_padavano

The 1964 330 had the nylon gear. I'm pretty sure that the first gen 394 did not.