I am posting to get some advice from some of you guys with more experience. I have a 430 that the miles are unknown on in my Skylark , I would assume they aren't over 100,000 I was hoping to get it up and running for this next coming racing season. I don't plan to be out racing it every weekend both to avoid hurting the engine as well as not having the time to. However I wanted to ask if going ahead and getting TA's front cover assembly with the new pump would be good insurance to keep the motor safe and avoiding oiling problems until I am able to get the short block rebuilt and have all the normal oil modifications done, the motor was already converted to the oil through push rods from the previous owner. If it helps on giving advice I don't plan on taking the motor over 5000 rpm, I've already got my ignition system together and have decided to set the rev limit at 5200-5300 to try and avoid hurting it that way as well. Any advice on buying the TA cover or not and ways to stay safe when taking the car racing until the money is there for a new short block would be greatly appreciated. Kyle
If it's running fine and making decent oil pressure then leave it alone and drive it. The stock cover is more than adequate for your application. If you're not experiencing oil pressure issues drive it and don't think twice about it.
Thank you both for the responses I will probably just run it as it is. The motor was my dad's before I had it and before him one of our close family friends owned it and neither had any problems with it, my dad told me it was running fine when he took it out. Currently I do not Larry however I plan to purchase a good gauge before firing the car up.
That’s what I thought. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/gauges.197307/ Get a good gauge on it, evaluate it. No need to fix something if it isn’t broken.
Thank you Larry for the link to the thread I just read through some of the posts and it was very informative. I had been looking at Autometer gauges so I am glad to see they are ones you and others would recommend.
The ticking time bomb is the timing chain, if it has the nylon gears if may be falling apart by now. If your pulling the timing cover, put in a new timing chain set. Here's a picture of an original small block chevy I recently took apart, as you can see the nylon is completely gone. It ends up in the oil pan usually clogging the oil pump pickup. Good luck.
