Okay fellas, I have done my research here on this board. I have a 94 non-vented opti and will be installing heads and cam hopefully this weekend. My timing options are limited. Many guys here are claiming that they have slack in their stock timing chains. Cloyes says this: "Oversized LT1 Steel crankshaft gear- Have you noticed your used or your new timing chain are very loose when installing your new cam? (well, it will be) We offer this oversized gear to tighten it up which allows more precise cam timing. It is made from steel instead of powdered metal. Offered for both LT1 OEM chains and the GM HD roller chain sets." So.... I am thinking that I will get a stock timing chain and this oversized gear to remove the slack....this should work fine for a 400hp application. Any suggestions? And yes....I have looked into a opti swap....$700 is not worth it.....that's how much the parts cost from gmpartsdirect.com. I rather replace the timing set every few years than spend 700 bucks. I only drive the car apprx 5k each year anyways. any suggestions? comments?

 

I went with the stock timing set on mine. I dont see any problems on it, running 400 hp or less.

True, you gotta change to the vented opti set up to get the strong dbl roller and such.

Cloyes sells a stronger than stock timing set-up for the non vented opti for like $400....I think it's stronger than the stock setup...but I have no idea. Most people just switch over to the OBDII FWIK

 

I know, I checked the cloyes website....400 is alot of $$$ though...I am convinced that teh stock will hold just fine with the oversized sprocket. I dont plan on running my car everyday and the track maybe 3 or 4 times a year....stock is stronger than everyone makes them out to be...or from what I have been reading here on the site.

 

I was considering using the cloyes for 92-94 timing setup. Who sells the stock set with an oversized crankshaft gear I may look into that also.

 

Check this out: The oversized gear on this page.

http://www.moreperformanceinc.com/timgchn.htm

 

you could switch to 95+ opti and timing cover... then buy an electric waterpump. b/c youd have an electric pump then you could run a regular SBC cloyes... for the 87+ hydro-rollers and they only cost around $80.

 

95+ opti = $700 for parts....not an option. Already looked on ebay and everywhere else...400rwhp should be fine with the stocker...