Projects AGAIN x2 / disaster averted by accident

Well sort of.

I have a low to no buck Chevy 307 pet project of mine. It came with a project and I didn't want it so its been sitting in the corner. Before I pulled it it ran pretty good , had good oil pressure and nice even compression would even light the tires. I've been buying as few parts as possible and trading for the rest. That's the plan and I'm certainly not in any hurry with it.

I found a free set of 305 heads for it, and some other goodies. Hadn't planned on a cam because I figured it already had a new one installed due to the originals going soft.
Stumbled on a great deal for a new comp cams XE262 K kit. I really didn't want to spend the money on a 307 but that's exactly what I figured would work the best with the compression bump of the 305 heads and it was cheap.

So pulled the old cam out today. Original timing chain and gears were under the cover. Well about 1/2 of the plastic was gone off the cam gear and the crank gear was cracked at the keyway. Take the cam out and 3 lobes look funny and one us definitely wore.

Had I not done the cam, this perfectly good engine would have thrown that chain or jumped very soon.

I've got a bunch of finned and polished SBC stuff, maybe ill take a shot at my own bellybutton. Might as well since its all apart now & Seeing as I saved its life and all.



It was running good with these parts.

 

belly button! ha

 

SBC's run the best right before they scatter.......

Disaster averted!

 

Great Save .

 

They all do that.

 

" really didn't want to spend the money on a 307".
One of the best small blocks I ever owned was a 307 with a set of hi-per 350 heads and a near too radical cam for the street. Little beast was nasty!

 

This one should be too.
10+:1 compression, XE262 cam, weiand street warrior intake, 2200 converter
Don't get me wrong, its an experiment and if I didn't think it had potential I wouldn't be doing it. There's two trains of thought on the 307, the most popular one is they are junk - the other is they are great with cam & head change. There is no question that a 350 is a better HP/ dollar ratio.
Hence comment, you quoted.

Funny how most like a stroker engine and most like the 283 but will scrap the 307. It's funny really.

 

Yea they do.
You'd figure after 42 years someone would have changed it by now.
The thing is, it was running good and there was no good reason to tear it apart.
Tear it apart before broken parts and scrap is the cool part.

 

I will take a 307 over a 283 any day. Just for the PCV system alone, it's a big improvement over the 283. I've seen a few that were runners and kick myself for not keeping a few that passed thru my hands.

Bob

 

Good save. I'd have to agree with those that have had good luck with a 307. Probably the most underrated sbc out there. We pieced together one with 283 power pack heads, 325 hp power pack intake and spread bore Holley and swap meet Z28 cam for my son's 70 Chev pickup 25 years ago and it was a beast for stop light to stop light battles and pulled 16 mpg on the highway in a long bed pickup.

 

I remember years ago that we would pull those gear sets and throw them in the garbage, even if not bad, plus I think they were retarded a few degrees. Don't forget to pull your pan and get the rest of the nylon gear bit's out.

 

Love the little misfits, they really like the HO305 heads and a dual plane with a good carb and headers. Very low buck engine , I built one as a temporary replacement and ran it two years , then sold it for the price of the rebuild kit.

Been in two different trucks in the last 7 years with moron owners. Last time I saw it , it smoked on start up, but cleared up and sounded nice. The heads were $14 off Ebay, and I gave them a lap dance and seals. They are a sweet little motor.
Just say it's a 283 or 327, watch the bobbing heads, it's a little of both!

 

For quite a few years the northeast dirt modifieds had a 320 CI limit for their sportsman class and, as usual, the SBC was in 95% of the race cars.

The 307 was the basis for virtually all of the engines because you got the 327 stroke and they would really pull of the corner as well as wind up plenty of RPM's going down the chute. It was an open piston rule with an open cast iron head rule and the engines were durable and lived.

Contrary to what many keyboard experts may say, the stock cast crank is one tough piece and if the crank is not bound up from misaligned main bores or if he rotating assembly out of balance it will serve you well.

The 305 heads are really going to increase your compression as I believe they are 58 cc. and IMO a longer duration on the exhaust will help a lot.

 

Denise will want those old gears.

 

31
I have done more by accident in my life than I will ever do on purpose.

Looks like that decision to change out the cam was a good decision even if it wasn't part of the plan.

 

No way, a 283 "stroker" motor.! Sounds high dollar to me.

 

Aint that the truth! A good friend had a 307 that had a cam gear do the exact same thing as the one pictured. It was a screaming little thing right up until it did jump time.....

 

i have always liked a 307, and still think it is a better choice then a 305.

 

Friend of mine had a 400 Small Block out of a El Camino in his Duece. We could never get it to idle down right, but it ran like the wind. On a long trip it may use a quart of oil.

Winter came and we looked into the trouble. One side of the engine had two valves not even working, broken springs, and the other side of the engine had a similar issue. Broken rockers. The guy who bought the engine drove the car before pulling the engine, and for some reason, the damaged did not show even though he pulled the valve covers.

It never smoked, and ran really good, just never idled right!

 

Well Vick, you probably had some karma coming your way on that one. You mighta accidentally sold that as a good runner to some poor unsuspecting guy. Now it was suggested you pull the pan, and I agree...are you going to check the bearings and put a new standard volume oil pump in it? There went the budget...again

 

You 307 Chevy fans might want to stop here too.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=706094

 

Make sure you replace the oil pump pickup screen because that is where the gear teeth are lodged!

 

Wow

 

Yep, you can count on that.

 

Old thread and no sense starting another one...for the same issue. Titled x2
Yesterday it was a Pontiac with the same issue. Nylon missing from 2 o’clock to 8 O’clock. 68,000 miles and running fine.


Back story. Purchased last fall and the new owner didn’t like the oil drops on the floor. Inspection showed every gasket leaking plus the engine really looked like a grimy sleaze ball. I said it’s going to better for everyone if we just pull it to do all this work because it’s not a simple valve cover gasket.
Some of the other stuff we found, rusted water pump impeller, separated motor mounts, paper thin Swiss cheese trans crossmember, disintegrated solenoid cap, and a coupe torque box frame areas to patch (easy now)
So I feel pretty good about the call to pull it. These things would have destroyed any part of his summer that the covidcrap left.

 

Nylon timing gear teeth were the scourge of the '70s!
Hope the Pontiac engine is otherwise intact and you're only replacing gaskets & timing chain.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...sbc-belly-button-engine-just-a-teaser.712197/

That was a fun engine for sure,
305 HO heads, 262 xE cam, package was th400, P9 Vega converter, 3.08 rear gears in a 4000 lb vehicle. Really fun driver. It was sold and been tearing up the roads for quite some time now.

 

Look at that Pontiac silent chain,,,,almost no slack ! If the teeth were still on the cam gear,,,I’ll bet it would almost be tight .

Those old silent chains were very good,,,,,the nylon gears were pure crap !
General Motors hurt a lot of engines with those ,,,,,I have never seen one that wasn’t missing teeth !

Tommy