I had a stroker engine 400/452 rebuilt again because the thrust bearing went bad. It was allign bored again and when I brought it back from the engine shop I started to assemble the engine and the timing chain is way too loose on this engine. If you make one side of the chain tight and put a straight edge on the opposet side and measure the amount of slop at the highest point is a little over a 1/4 inch!
Do one of the timing chain companies have a shorter chain or larger gears to fix this problem?

Please reply if you know how to fix this problem.
Thank you!
glr7069@ptd.net

Undersized chains are avalible from most chain suppliers

you can buy a tensioner for it IIRC from one of the racing companies dan

Cloyes 9-3104 (std.) 9-3104-005 (5 under) or 9-3104-010 (10 under) single bolt. I don't have my 3 bolt set at home so I'm unable to give you that pn., but if you use the appropriate 3 digit suffix on it you will get the same results.

HTH
Randy

You could use an undersized chain, and hope that solves your problen,...if you have a 3 bolt cam, you could run a dual idler gear drive, bolt in, the gear lash/gap is determined by offset bushings,....Jegs has them for a $275-$300 .....BB Mopar PN# 20360 or 20361, quiet/noisey......Jegs 1 800 345 4545 or Jegs.com

Use a chain set of the correct undersize.The dual idler gear drives have a reputation for poor reliability.

Thanks everyone for all of your suguestions. I think I will see about a smaller chain, sounds like a good idea and I am sure is cheeper than getting another type of timing set.
What is the best way to figure out what size chain I will need?

Bought a cheapo Cloyes (stock replacement) that was too loose on a stock unrebuilt engine, just preventative maintenance in replacing the chain at 100k miles on a 318. Sent it back and got a quality set, Edelbrock in this case, fit nicely.

Might be the kit is loose, but since you've had a line bore or two done, might need a undersized chain. Anyone know how to measure and tell for sure?

Yea...that is my question now...how to measure so i can ask for the right size chain.

Well, I hope I can get a chain that will fit and take care of this problem.

Before I used the Rottler, I stacked up Jo blocks between cam and crank and just did the math to find out what size chain to get. Now with the Rottler, I measure what size chain is needed before the block gets pulled off the machine. Super quick and easy.

Wait, let me pull the Rottler out of my pocket... oh wait.

Jo Blocks are a good idea, much cheaper than a Rottler, but not cheap. Maybe a center to center measurement with a dial caliper?