68 340 timing marks

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The earlier ones had a bolt on tab that was on the passenger side, the later had it made to the cover and was on the drivers side. Someone had yours off and didnt put it back.

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Correct. The odd ball is the '69 timing chain cover. That was a one year cover that had the marks cast into the passenger's side.

I recently bought a '68 and earlier "timing pointer" so I could use a '70 and up timing chain cover and still set the timing from the passenger's side.

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my engine came in pieces, do you know anyone that has these tabs?

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I recently bought a '68 and earlier "timing pointer" so I could use a '70 and up timing chain cover and still set the timing from the passenger's side.

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why did you use the later tcover? were you using an early wp w dr side hose & wanted to time it without having to deal with that interference & also did you use an early harmonic dampener or remark a 70 & up one?

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I wanted to keep my original numbers matching 340 complete so I didn't want to take the cover off that engine. I bought a '71 340 block and built a stroker out of it. That came with a '71 340 timing chain cover. Then I bought a Mopar Performance vibration damper which has the '70 and up marks. But I run the '69 water pump and could not see the marks. So I re-indexed the damper and put another timing tape on it and use the timing pointer. Now I time it from the passenger's side where nothing blocks the marks. Here is the timing pointer I bought installed:

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my engine came in pieces, do you know anyone that has these tabs?

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They aren't reproduced. You have to find one used. I put a wanted ad up here and got some responses. All the small blocks from '64-'68 had them so used ones can be found.

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why did you use the later tcover? were you using an early wp w dr side hose & wanted to time it without having to deal with that interference & also did you use an early harmonic dampener or remark a 70 & up one?

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I wanted to keep my original numbers matching 340 complete so I didn't want to take the cover off that engine. I bought a '71 340 block and built a stroker out of it. That came with a '71 340 timing chain cover. Then I bought a Mopar Performance vibration damper which has the '70 and up marks. But I run the '69 water pump and could not see the marks. So I re-indexed the damper and put another timing tape on it and use the timing pointer. Now I time it from the passenger's side where nothing blocks the marks. Here is the timing pointer I bought installed:

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here ya go...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MOPAR-DOD...sspagenameZWDVW

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No way that cover is from a 68, It has the timing numbers cast into the case.

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The numbers matching 318 from my '68 B'cuda has the cast style '69 timing cover. I can't be certain it is original to the motor, but it is not a common item to fail in service. I guess the real question is when in '68 did the '69 cover come into service? My '69 340 GTS with a 9/68 build date has the cast timing marks...