gear drive
 

who makes the best gear drive or am i wastig my time and should just go with the jessel belt...................man it is exspensive though///////////

Re: gear drive
 

best gear drive is RCD, run all the time in my boat, Keith black is ok as well, wouldnt run a belt, I like to wash down and the RCD set up right is bullett proof, good luck ,gg10

Re: gear drive
 

Where Due I Find It Thanks Buy The Way

Re: gear drive
 

Pete Jackson gear drives is a stone's throw from me. But I'd rather run a good roller chain than a gear drive. Jessel belt drives are great for R and D and dyno work, but their life is shorter than a chain. Gear drives impart a different load on the cam bearings. The gears tend to push the cam and crank apart, where the chain tends to pull them together. BBC engines have the oil port for the cam bearings on the "bottom" where the load is placed when running a chain. If you run a gear drive the load is on the top. Some people don't like the gear drives on boats because of the harmonics from the camshaft. Cams tend to "load" and "unload" depending on the cam lobe locations. The energy that is used to depress the valve spring is returned to the cam on the back side of the cam ramp. With a gear drive the gears tend to "chatter" as the energy is returned. Especially if they are straight cut gears and not helical cut. Straight cut gears are more efficient, but by their design the gear faces "impact" each other upon contact and slightly increase and decrease the cam rpm during the contact. That is why modern stick transmissions use constant mesh helical gears. They are smoother and less noisy. I'd suggest you go with a high quality roller chain and forget the gears. Just my opinion.

Re: gear drive
 

Thanks Guys

Re: gear drive
 

The Nooky man knows his shizzo.

The guys who certify automotive engines for aircraft use will only use a belt where they can put 2 (i.e. a redundant belt) like on the water pump. The belt driven cams haven't met their standard for reliability. But these are boats and not airplanes so.............

And chains have improved in the last 20 years.

Re: gear drive
 

Im with reed jenson, been there done that on the others. Brian

Re: gear drive
 

what roller chain due you suggest

Re: gear drive
 

Cloyes Hex Adjust is good quality and easy to adjust.

Re: gear drive
 

rollmaster timing chains are the finest made period. the metalurgy of the steel in the german made chain is what separates them from the others, as its the chain that streches over time. rollmaster also use billet gears, and the cool part is they only cost a few dollars more then other timing chain sets. ROLLMASTER

Re: gear drive
 

Keep in mind there are basically 3 types of roller chains used in timing sets. The first type is a "fake"roller,these are your 15 dollar sbc ones and ultra cheap others,the pin IS the roller. The second type is a "true roller",the outer bushing rolls around the pin. You need to be very careful with these as there are MANY variations. The cloyes are this way but the majority of them,even one of the bbc .005 hex adjust,have a seam in the outer roller where the piece was formed into a circle. This seam is sorta flat and I have personally seen it pit when used with stiff valve springs at the seam on a motor with 130 hours so AVOID any set that has a seam in the outer roller that you can easily see unless you are using low spring pressures typical of a hyd flat tappet cam or are changing the timing chain and gears on a regular basis. The best kind are true roller with seamless outer rollers,the rollmaster falls under this category. They appear to have no seam in the outer roller,they usually say they are made in germany and are called a IWIS chain. They are about the best ones you can get that I know of. Along with a set of nice billet gears they last well,Smitty

Re: gear drive
 

A gear drive will cost you horsepower. Stay with a good Cloyes True Roller Chain set.