I pulled the timing cover on my 74 351W 2v today. The cam gear was stripped to the metal and the engine appeared to be 90 degrees out. Other than the particles and shavings in the oilpan, what other damage could there be? Valves, Cam, crank? What would cause this gear to strip teeth while running down the road? I don't want to spend a lot of money on this block if it's damaged.

I will be doing a compression check tomorrow afternoon and starting it up this weekend. Just checking on possible problems.

Krosati
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That is what happened to my old Fairmont with 255. Ford used nylon timing gears, and the teeth stripped after 193,000 miles. The engine sorta self-destructed. Actually, it caused damage to a couple valves when they stopped moving, and a piston or two. We machined and rebuilt the engine, and it was running strong after 40,000 miles when I sold it.
Point is, the block wasn't damaged, and it was cheaper to rebuild the engine than to buy a used, and possibly trashed engine.
My two cents.
Later

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 21-Oct-01 AT 11:54 AM (EST)[/font][p] Once upon a time in my younger years, I was driving down the highway at 4000rpm when my 390 lost power. It would run, but only on two cylinders. I pulled the timing cover to find the nylon had come off the cam gear. I replaced the timing chain and gears with a steel set from Cloyes. I got it all back together, and when I fired it up, it would still only run on two cylinders. I was disgusted with it at this point and gave up for a day.

The next day, I pulled the valve covers and watched the rocker arms while cranking the engine over. What I found was only the first four rockers on each head were operating, and only the first two rockers on each head were operating at full lift. I tore the top end down, and was able to see my new two piece camshaft. Evidently, when the chain let go, it jerked the cam hard enough to shear it between the fourth lifter lobe and the second cam bearing!

I went ahead and pulled the heads thinking major valve damage, and was pleased to see no damage to the heads at all. I replaced the cam, got it all back together, and was very happy to hear it fire up on all eight cylinders.

To put it simply, put in a new timing chain set, verify that your cam is still in one piece, and remove the oil pan and oil pump for a thorough cleaning. Reassemble, and happy driving!:-)
Jason Kendrick
1970 F100 Custom 390/C6
1978 F150 Ranger Lariat Supercab 460/C6