[hunelmea]

Evening folks. Ran into a problem when I pulled down a recently purchased 396. No dowel pins in the block that align the timing cover. GM says they are no longer available at the dealers.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Mike]

Nothing special , just a 1/4" x 5/8" solid pin.

 

[hunelmea]

OK, took a closer look at the block last night and there is not even a boss where the dowel holes should be. The timing cover holes for the dowel pins hang over the outboard edge of the machined area. Anyone ever seen this.

Every GM V8 I've ever built had the pins on the timing cover.

 

[FRYNTYR]

68 was the trasition year for these, 65-67 didn't have them.

 

[hunelmea]

68 was the trasition year for these, 65-67 didn't have them.

That explains it. So how do you properly align the timing cover with the crankshaft and ensure that the timing cover mates to the oil panproperly? It appears that this was the original problem in that the timing cover was not centered on the crankshaft and not quite up to the block oil pan deck.

Suggestions please.

 

[Mike]

Don't know how far into the engine your going but be aware of the cam oiling required for the early blocks.
Rear cam bearing needs a groove as does the rear cam journal.

 

[novaderrik]

put the timing cover on with the bolts loose and install the balancer to center it. tighten the bolts down with the balancer in place.. if you can't get at some of the bolts, remove the balancer and tighten them.