I just couldn't get my head wrapped around why you were timing both #1 and #6 cylinders. I couldn't see were that had any bearing on a slack condition of the timing chain. I believe I heard that TA's aluminum Timing chain cover is made to clear the double roller. I bought TA's timing change cover because it has a neoprene front crank seal. My timing cover had a rope seal and leaked a lot. The main issue for me not going with a double roller, it puts a lot of stress on the front cam bearing and I didn't want to chance damaging the bearing. Even if your nylon timing gear is in good condition, I wouldn't trust it for the long run. I'm a retired machinist and have machined a lot of nylon products. Nylon has a bad biproduct of absorbing moisture (water) and maybe of other chemicals. We never tested it for other chemicals because we were making electrical enclosures that were shorting out due to the moisture getting into the enclosure. Nylon material will eventually break down and the metal chain will also grind it down. I assume these are some of the reasons why GM stopped making nylon timing gears. Vet
Yes, eventually it will break. This nylon proved to be excellent in handling engine oil. Just imagine doing its job still after 55 years. The way i use my car i do not fear it to break down anytime soon, no racing or punishment as in high rpm's. Sometimes i floor it and this ship just kicks in hard and takes off like a rocket.
The gears were NEVER nylon. they were aluminum with a nylon coating. When I had my 350 part at about 100k miles the chain was fine, but as described above the nylon was delaminating from gear. It didn't slip or run badly. It was just obviously breaking down.
I just looked at your profile. I didn't realize you're from the Netherlands. When I was in the U.S. Navy, I've been in both Amsterdam & Rotterdam. Love your country, very beautiful. Got a look at your Riviera, good looking Buick. That's a big car, must be tough driving that beast on small roads. Now of course I was in your country Way back in 1971. You're born on January 8 and I was born on January 1. Have you by a few years, 1949, lol. I know what you mean go like a rocket, the 455 has a lot of punch. I have a 70 Skylark GS. I hope you are getting a lot of help from all the guys here. Vet (Navy)
Really, wow. I say Hi to another Capricorn. Yes Vet, i am here since january 2007. It's a great board and something we do not have here in The Netherlands. Sounds like a great car you have! I think it is a bit lighter than my riv? In The Netherlands a lot has changed since you were her in 1971. For instance we are here now in this small country with 18 million people instead of only around 10 million back in 1971. Let me show you some pics of the car:
Thanks for the pics, super nice Riv. 8 million more people in 53 years, not a bad population growth. Lol Looks like the roads got wider too. When I get on my desktop computer, I will have to send you pics of my car. For some reason it will not let me do it from my phone. Vet
Yes we have been dancing. Fantastic, I don't have a Buick service manual. Than you for the info. Much appreciated. Vet PS, this is the reason why I love this forum, someone always has an answer.
You're welcome. Would be nice to see your car. Our roads here especially highway's are of great quality though. When you cross the border here to Belgium and drive the roads it reminds me of the USA. It is somewhat more relax to me. In Belgium they also still have electricity grid management above roads. Here where it's possible we have a few wide roads lol. Depends where you are. We do have some great country roads though but they end a lot sooner than in the US
I lived in Germany and loved the Audubon. First time driving on it was scary when people were doing their cars all out high speed. Lived there in 1991. Lived there as a kid when my father was in the Army. 1953-1959. A second time, 1963-1965. We visited a lot of European countries, Belgium included. Great time as a teenager in Europe. Vet
1991.....Deutsche mark still present in that year. Germany has dome great places and cities to visit. And yes the Autobahn.....crazy speeds there still. Fortunately there's also a law for max speed on different Autobahn in Germany. If you think you're going fast there at a 130 mph.....forget it.....they will still fly by. Insane and i think it is just stupid and very dangerous. How is life in Virginia? Is it a good state to live in the US?
This might be a long post. When I lived in Frankfurt, two car loads of my buddies when to a golf course (Heidelberg). On the way there, I was driving my Dodge Mimi van. Got behind my buddy driving his BMW. I flashed my headlights for him to move out of the fast lane. I looked over to the next slower lane and saw a German lady staring at me, she can't believe i'am flashing the BMW to move out of the way. We were at 110 mph at the time, all the speed the Mimi van could do. My buddy floored his BMW and left me in the dust. We all laughed, had a load of fun looking at the German lady. Lol Virginia is a nice place to live. Has a population of 8.6 million as of 2021. Northern VA is were the action is. I'am only 12 miles from our nations capital. Most people here work either at the capital, military, or for defense contractors. It's expensive to live here, especially the houses. Once you get out of here, the rest of VA is less expensive and less crowded. Going west (4 hours) you run into our mountain range. Lot of beautiful parks. Lots of people like to hike and drive the windy mountain roads in sport cars and motorcycles. We have what we call Southern hospitality. Most southern people are very friendly. My wife is born here and lived here all her life with the exception of traveling with me to Japan and Germany, she enjoyed seeing the rest of the world and meeting other people. My father being a career Army officer, I have traveled to a lot of countries, plus having served in the U.S. Navy took me to more countries. Virginia has a good climate, we only get snow a couple of times in the winter and not much more than 3 inches. The summers can get past 90 degrees F in July and August. The rest of the months are good driving weather. In this part of Virginia be have a lot of interstate highways and tons of cars that crowd these highways. Since i'am on the eastern side of the state and close to the ocean, my wife and I like to go to the Eastern shore to enjoy the beach, small beach towns, and especially sea food. We enjoy going to a bearer island called Chincoteague. That is a native American Indian name. It's a very small island that has wild horses on it that are managed by the local Fire fighters and the horses live on the island. The National Federal part authority owns part of the land on the island where the horses live. You have to pay a small fee to inter the national park unless you are a senior citizen and you are given an ID card where to can visit for free. There is much more about Virginia but I would be writing a book. Lol. Vet PS, for the car guy, we have several drag strips and i'am only 10 miles from the Maryland boarder. Maryland also has automotive race tracks. We have local car shows. The big cars shows are in Washington DC that is only 12 miles from me.
