i did some research and i noticed some people saying its like 500 bucks for a replacement one in a 94 lt1, and that your better off changing optis and getting a different chain for a 95+ lt1.. im doing a h/c next month and am buying parts on a budget soo i want the cheap way out without giving up to much on the reliability side.

Jeremy

 

If you are doing heads/cam shortly, you may want to look into doing the opti conversion. It will cost you more, but you'll have the benefit of running a vented optispark.

 

what are the main benifits of running a vented over a non vented opti? getting the vented opti what else would i be required to buy to make it all work??

 

If you are on a budget, a stock set will be fine. Does "h/c" mean Hot cam or heads and cam?

 

just buy a regular replacement chain at the auto parts place, its like $17 from napa.....

I've done several 400+ h.p. cars with them zero issues

 

Ditto that. I could not justify the cost of the LT4 extreme duty. I have also read of some people having water pump drive issues with that set. I'm not sure why....but have seen a few threads on it.

I went with a new stock timing set.

 

Whatever you do, replace both the sprockets and the chain. Putting a new chain on old sprockets is unwise.

 

 

ill be doing a head cam, got a set of heads im porting and flow benching at school right now. looking for some flow numbers similar to that of the LE1 heads and probably going to buy the le1 or 2 cam from lloyd.

alright so i looked on kragen and about 25 different sets come up.. Does anyone know any part numbers?

Jeremy

Alright found the part numbers on shbox's website! comes out too $117 im going to order it tomorrow unless i find something cheaper

 

I've done it lots of times and never had any issues at all

What issues have you had when reusing the stock gears? Were the gears "worn out" I bet that engine was full of metal if they were...

 

This will be an interesting discussion, I have often asked this myself.
It's hard to see any wear on the sprockets, not like your typical motor cycle sprocket which clearly wears down and is obvious.
The chain stretches, so the slack needs to be taken out but why the the gears if they have no measurable wear?
I also heard these timing sets don't fail. Is there a service limit spec. or slack measurement to see if replacement is recommended, or is it just practice, so everyone just does because...

 

Believe me, they wear. It may be hard to see by the naked eye.

If the chain stretches, then it is not going to mate up with the exact same spot on the sprockets as it did when new. The sprockets will get sympathetic wear to the chain. When you only put on a new chain, you leave the wear that is on the sprockets to start making the new chain wear to match. Bottom line is you start with more slack than a completely new set and you will see further slack sooner than if you had replaced the whole set.

LT1s are already plagued with what seems like excess slack on a new set. No reason in the world to compound this by replacing only the chain. Even on old SBCs, I never replaced only the chain. Always a complete new set. It's just the prudent thing to do.

 

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294892074

Any one of these will work. I bought the third one down and went with a electric water pump. Chain is nice and tight and seems stronger than stock chain. My water pump drive was worn out and I did not want to reuse it. If they are worn they will leak, and a new one is close to $100. So $80 more and you have a elec w/p and 10 to 15 more horses. No brainer to me.

 

Ain't gonna work with his 1994. If he converts to a vented opti, then yeah.

 

so the stock lt1 chain will be plenty strong enough to handle 425 hp? and maybe a 100 shot down the road? the reason i ask is because i just built a le2 h/c 355? if i wanted to run a vented opti on my 93, what all would i need? just the timing set, cover and opti right?