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im considering buying a valve train system with everything and was condsidering whether to go for a chain or gears. i know with gears that supposevly at higher rpms it wont retard like it needs to, will a vacum advance dizzy fix that? i kind of like the "noisy" gears, aspecially wound out. what do i have to worry about with gears? and about chains, what would you guys suggest?. ive heard about the 302's having some sort of plastic timing gear, is this true? either way i want to go for this soon as possible. what kind of inexspensive cam would you guys suggest for a otherwise stock 302? im basically gonna do muddin and a haulin with it so no rocks or anything like that. whats a good duration, and what not? thanks all
chrono
Make sure you get a timing set, with gears and chain when you replace things. If you are going to degree the cam, I'd get a set where the gears have multiple keyways. You have EFI, correct? If so, then no, you can't put a vacuum advance distributor on the truck - the computer handles all timing advance. As for the noisy gear drives, they are not recommended for engines with knock sensors, which an EFI 302 will have. Just get a good quality timing set and run that.
If it's your 88 you're working on, you have speed density. You're real limited as to what you can use for a cam that will work with your engine. Maybe a stock 93-95 Lightning cam would work, but I'm not sure. The gear drive has nothing to do with the retarding of your timing, and neither does a gear and chain setup. Even if you COULD use a gear drive in your engine, I wouldn't. They are LOUD. All the time. Even going slow, it makes noise. What good is noise if it doesn't help you go faster. I installed a Pete Jackson gear drive, and removed it a week later. I went with a good Cloyes double roller timing set after that. Don't buy a cheap set either, unless you're going to get rid of the truck soon.