Timing chain, is this on purpose or a fluke?
 

71 402 block stock

I had a bit of trouble lining up the chain, nothing major. First time I thought it was right I noticed the slack was uneven between gears. Couldn't tell you, probably a link off. Somehow the bolts lined up anyway. "Damn my eyes", I probably missed something obvious. At least I saw it was wrong;).

Second time I noticed how one link is clear instead of gray. Thought huh, I'll match it up to the timing tooth, see what happens. Dead-on, went right on and the slack is even. That a fluke or on purpose?:lol: Course there were no instructions. Might be a good thing (YIKES), instructions these days, what a disaster.



On the side;

Not sure how you guys KNOW the sprocket marks are lined up perfectly. Best I can tell is employ the eye test. Level is happy, but I don't put much stock in a torpedo level for this purpose. In other words, there's a little slop when you turn the crank & cam individually. What might be plumb to one guy may differ the next. Close is good enough maybe, can't really say.

I baked the crank sprocket with butter:lol: It went on, though not quite all the way. So I tapped it a pinch with a hammer and thought nope, didn't wanna. Not sure cooking a sprocket is a wise idea anyway, so I tossed it. Second time I used a crank sprocket tool with a harmonic balancer install kit, and high pressure (i.e., anti-seize) lube. Went on like butter.

Bought new crank bolts from ARP. Their instructions say torque @ 25 ft. lbs. and use "ARP anti-seize lube". Thought that was odd. From what I've read you should use blue lock-tite (the opposite), though torque at 20 ft. lbs. Unless someone suggests otherwise, think I'll run with the latter.

Re: Timing chain, is this on purpose or a fluke?
 

ARP’s lubricant gives much more accurate torque readings than doing it dry or with Locktite. They probably expect you to use a cam bolt lock plate instead of liquid locking fluid or lock washes. That is also what I would recommend purchasing.

Not sure about your chain alignment, it looks OK to me? I never run link belt chains anymore. Rollers are just too inexpensive and seem to be better suited to long term use.

Re: Timing chain, is this on purpose or a fluke?
 

I believe you, so I ordered a locking plate and even ARP's "special" lube.

I double checked the sprockets with a straight edge. They're money, 08.25" from the same portion of the block to the front edge of the teeth.

This is all new to me, and never thought about a roller chain. Summit recommended a double chain or something like, but didn't want to concern myself with clearance, and if a standard chain was good enough for Mickey (rebuild) it's good enough for me. Then again, I replaced his chain, probably stretched to some extent (40K miles).

Thanks a bunch for the info.