Bad Edelbrock Timing Chain
 

I bought a new Edelbrock timing chain set from Summit. The crank gear inside diameter was far too small. I even heated the gear to make it as big as I could but it still wouldn't come close to sliding on. Had to return it. Even name brand parts are being made poorly these days. I worked in auto manufacturing and I know about the checks that are supposed to be in place. Sick and tired of being the 'no go' gage. They should give us double the money back when this happens because we are working for them finding their junk and sorting it out.

They just take it back and refund you money, put it back on the shelf, and next week somebody else will end up with the damn thing again and have to go through the whole list of checks again just to find out the same thing you did.

This seems a recurring story these days.

Almost as if they want us to quit completely...

I had such take place about 8 years ago on the weekend that I had to get the motor together and ended up using a brake cylinder hone to put in like .0015" more on a Crank gear!

Very bad situation and it's only getting worse in this industry.... All these guys that went to college and learned to raise prices and cut quality should get a refund on their tuition.

This is the story of our lives as engine builders. Everything has to be checked now no matter who makes it. QC has gone to crap in today's world, and they just don't care. Oh, and we're always the first to complain about it.

I deviated from my "norm" once and used a "double roller" timing set on one of my engines. It did fine for a few years, then without warning the car started really loosing power and slowed WAY down at the track. The chain was so loose I could literally walk it off the gears!

Up until that time I'd been using OEM type timing sets, the 3/4" wide Morse chain variety with the heat treated metal sprockets.

They will run about 100,000 miles without much effort, that's about 90,000 miles further than most of these vehicles will see in the next 30 years!

I'm not trying to convince anyone to use one of these timing sets, nor am I throwing rocks at the currently available and popular high end roller stuff. I really couldn't tell you if the stuff being produced today is all that great, I just have a perfect track record with the old stock OEM variety.

I buy mine off Ebay auctions and they are older stock, from the 70's and 80's, not current production. I look for the ones shown in the pics below, not the cast iron sprocket type like's being sold over the counter today as shown in the last pic.......Cliff

Bought a pilot bearing for a SBC I was doing and it was 5K oversize. Went and bought a second one, same deal. We had to cut it down in a lathe to make it fit.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/e...w/make/pontiac

This has a 5 star rating, was yours boxed wrong? Being in the parts biz I see this all the time.

It was just undersized. It would not have went on the 'no go' gage at the plant. Who ever makes these for Edelbrock wasn't checking their parts in a way to catch all the bad ones.

Sadly, you checked it for Edelbrock ):

^^^ X2. People buy Chinese parts off of eBay, and they're junk. Then they buy a better one. But now they have a new part they're never going to use. Rather than eating their loss, many folks will happily take advantage of someone's return policy. Parts with no clear provenance (like a company logo) and unscrupulous consumers, it's a recipe for disaster.

This was a name brand part. An Edelbrock timing chain set I bought from Summit. I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Edelbrock would not be high on my list of a vendor to buy a cam or timing set.Heads and intake yes..They own a foundry,Someone else makes their cams and timing sets.Just a reseller IMO.Tom

I think it’s just a sign of the times. There aren’t many skilled machinists out there anymore. A lot of the grads I see coming out of the trade schools are woefully underprepared and the old timers are getting out of it leaving a big void in the talent pool. It’s not just machining but welding, fabricating and all the skilled trades.
It might be the the fallout from years of telling kids to get a college degree and pushing the trades to the side. It’s not going to get any better any time soon.

This:
 

Someone buys a junk Chinese part and a good part. Put's the Chinese one in the "good" box and returns it. I get "customers" who put their old part in the box and try to return it. Sometimes they get away with it.:fencing:

I have installed hundreds of Cloyes Timing sets on all types of engines including many dozens of Pontiacs. 100% excellent fit and performance. Sprockets made in the USA. Chains made in France and Japan. Top quality. No Chinese Crap. Spend an extra $5-10 and get something you can install and forget about until the rest of the engine needs an overhaul.

Same here! Go with a Cloyes Double Roller Timing Set.

TAQuest, ya might give "Performance Distributors" a try regarding your distributor issues. Quality there.

I builr a ford 429 and used cloyes. When I took it apart for a recam I discovered I had the emmissions set which had 7 degrees retard built in. I called customer service and they sent me a crank sprocket to correct it, on their dime. Even asked me for crank to cam distance to get a snug fit. I had 30k miles on that set at that time with no noticeable stretch.

As a normal guy that try’s to buy good parts its just sad the quality levels on various items has dropped off. I cant imagine the time it takes engine builders to go through every component. I have done my share of builds over the decades but I and my friends have noticed a increased decline in quality control..
The last build with my Rollmaster timing chain gave me a challenge with both gears being undersized ...frustrating.
The Romacc balancer also was undersized , not happy.. 30 yrs ago I never experienced these issues. My engine guy constantly shares his findings on the amount of inconsistent parts on all builds.

Right! Bad enough for the DIY people trying to enjoy themselves working on their fun car.
It's got to be absolutely brutal for the mechanic trying to make a living. The customer doesn't want to hear excuses. They don't want to pay extra. They just want their car done and don't have any idea of the hoops a mechanic has to jump through these days.