71 Chevelle Engine - Cam / Timing Gear Question

[Hefavitzen]

First off, I only own part of a Chevelle...and it could be another GM product instead.

But, here goes:

I have a Chevy 350 from a 1971 Chevelle (I think/hope)
Casting number 3970014
RPO - CJD

It is in a 1981 Jeep Scrambler mated to a B&M th350 and an AMC 20 rear with 2.75 gears. It works.

My issue is that the previous owner installed the engine with gear drive instead of a timing chain. This thing is LOUD! It makes the Jeep unpleasant to drive and, since few people know what makes that sound, they look at my noisy Jeep and think, "why doesn't that guy add some power steering fluid!".

So, I would like to install a timing chain but I do not know what type of cam is in the engine as I have no receipts for the engine internals. There are plenty of add ons on the engine (edelbrock manifold and carb, Mallory distro) and he went through the trouble of adding the timing gears.

Before I tear it all apart to get to the gears, can you guys tell me from your experience if there is some way to tell what type of cam I have from the front of the cam? I haven't done this before so I am trying to get as much info as possible before I make a mistake. In researching Timing Chains I see that there are many that work for this and that but not for the OEM cam. Or they work for Edelbrock cams and the OEM only. Or they work on roller cams but not OEM, or the work on OEM and no other. But, I do not know what I have and do not want to pop the heads, pull the lifters and rods and pull the cam out to view the numbers between the lobes.

Anyone have any ideas?????? Thanks in advance for the help! Jeff

[IMG][/IMG]

[Hank70SS]

Probably won't be able to from front of cam, you could get lucky but I wouldn't count on it.

[Ms Grumpy]

Welcome Hef. I wanna see a pic of the Jeep Scrambler. Hubby had a 1972 Jeep Commando until late last year. We all loved the Jeep.

[Hefavitzen]

That is a beauty of a Commando!!!! Toughest one I have ever seen and the first one that doesn't look like my grandpa should be doffing his hat from behind the wheel. NICE!!!

So my Scrambler looks a little rough but it is the culmination of 6 years of looking and a budget that asked me to choose. I chose mechanical issues over body and frame issues meaning I have faith in my mechanical skills but zero in my rust remediation skills. So, via Craigslist and sight unseen (had a member of Reno4X4 go look it over), I bought a Scrambler from Reno and had it shipped back here to South Carolina.

It had some issues when I received it. The PO had it since new, but made some changes to the drive train 13 years ago (I get that date from receipts he provided). He added a new engine, transmission and one piece axles. The engine has had some work done to it but the gearing is such that it keeps the tires mostly glued to the ground and about 2500 RPM at 80mph (which is exciting in an old Jeep). The one thing he messed up on was the wiring of the Mallory distributor, and is likely why he drove it very little once he did all that work. He wired the distributor and bypassed the required resistor block. Because of this you couldn't drive the Jeep around the block without it cutting out on you. You had to turn the key off and back on and it would start right up. I wiped the accumulated gunk off of the coil wiring contacts, found the correct wire, moved the wire to the resistor block (like the instructions read) and the Jeep has run like a champ since. Except for that awful timing gear noise!!!!!

Here is a picture. I was intentionally looking for a Jeep with a carborated Chevy V8 because I want it to be able to take to the highway and be easy to find parts for. Having a 1971 Gen 1 (possibly out of a Chevelle) is just good to know and how I ended up here. I have been a big fan of Chevelle's all my life but Jeeps are so much easier to work on. Now I have a little of one and a lot of another. Not bad. My wife will only tolerate one play car a piece; other wise our driveway would have every stray I could lay my hands on. There is a 72 Chevelle convertible down the road that I keep my eye on. The couple do not drive it but will not sell it either.

Below are the pics...It needs a paint job and some tires but is a blast to drive.

Thanks, Jeff

[flash]

That Scrambler looks very nice ,you just dont see many of those anymore ,at least around here .