I got a opportunity to get a new gear drive for my 350. I am pretty sure it is the one with the whine. I was thinking about putting in my El Camino that I will be usin for cruisin. I am concerned about the whine the drives make. Will it be a nuisance or is it worth listening to at idle?
Pete Jackson gear drive
- Thread starter Ridgeline
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Its an anoying nuisance to me. Look at me mentally I am 12 years old do ya think I have a blower? If my car sounds like it has a blower its because it does. I dunno just me. I know the benefit is never any timeing chain stretch but most of the hard core racers who could potentially benefit from it don't use it. Im not sure if it robs power or what. If I bought a project with one on it I would buy another chain and install it just to get rid of it.
Well ... I think if you have the power to back them up they're cool 8) But, then again I like noisy, loud cars.
lets put it this way do you like to hear the power your car makes or would you rather hear the whine to tell people i have a Pete Jackson gear drive. they do not add horse power they do the same job as the timing chain that you don't have to listen to. NOW if you are putting out the massive horse power that you should when you actually NEED the gear drive then you will not even hardly hear it. YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
I always thought they were meant to give precise timing, it doesnt stretch like a normal chain or belt would.
they don't stretch, but it takes quite a bit to stretch a chain. i have heard that the extra noise/vibration can transmit through the engine and screw up knock sensors and can even cause spark scatter (that i'm doubtful of, myself)
I have a gear drive in my 358in sbc . I have heard all types of horror stories about the vibration transfer to all sorts of things including the distributor . I have heard about the hp loss etc . I have a set of large headers , and a comp cams 292 camshaft and it all vibrates . I even heard once that the supposed transfer of vibration would cause erratic spark distribution ( distributor warning ) But this i will tell you from personal experience . It has ran completely trouble free for over 7 years . I have let it set for months at a time , people would come over and want a ride and i would thrash the sh@# out of it , and then park it . It has made countless dragstrip passes at better than 6500 rpm , and through the flowmasters , accented with that large cam , it sounds bitchin . It comes down to personal preference . If you like that sound (assuming you have heard it before ) then go for it . its an afternoon to yank it out if you dont like it , and you can sell it somewhere i am sure . Alot of the pro racers i am around do run them , the ones that dont comes down to a personal preference . And some are just scared to death because they are somewhat different to set up on some engines. some people dont like change .And then some just dont like gear drives . Its your car , you decide if its something that would get on your nerves . They do whine , and they get louder with more rpm . I dont know what kind of engine you are doing , but if it were stock or close to it , i might pass . Thats a kind of "better bring your junk with ya " sound and you will attract the attention of the other guys for a few grudge matches . And if the street scene there is anything like it is here , they will call you out to see if you do . Kinda like fresh meat..................Good luck with it , whatever you decide to do .
like i said. me personally unless i am building a bad a** motor that i wont hear the whine i personally would go double roller timing chain. but with chains and gear drives you also sometimes get what you pay for. a cheap chain is made with cheap materials to keep cost down and a good chain is usually made with good materials. so keep that in mind when doing your pros & cons. gear drives are the same thing. if your checking out the cheap sets of gear drives on e bay do not bother i can tell you from an almost very expensive experience a friend had you will be better off with the chain.
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