I was told to drip motor oil on the new timing chain to get it ready, but I’m sure I’ll make a mess. Soaking it in oil and installing it after also didn’t seem like I’d manage that without getting oil all over the gasket surface. How quickly does oil get in there with a new front cover (oil pump gears are packed with petroleum jelly)? Can I put petroleum jelly on the chain too? I have Sil Glyde, but it has silicone and I’m not sure if I should use that. I could lightly and carefully get motor oil on the chain and hope it’ll be enough until it gets oil from the tube… Planning to install the timing cover tomorrow. It’s already got the water pump on it - hopefully it won’t be a problem that I already torqued those bolts - I wanted to mount it to the timing cover and install them together for some reason.

I’m wondering if I need to clean the spark plugs holes at all or put anything down there like marvel mystery oil since the vehicle has sat for a while? I turned the engine a few times today when I was installing the camshaft bolt to make sure everything was lining up - looks and feels fine to me, no collision or since I installed the timing chain the other day and needed to loctite and torque the camshaft bolt, feels smooth, marks on sprockets keep lining up, so I used loctite and torqued the camshaft bolt.

Someone a while ago told me I might want to use MMO in another vehicle (the 91 RRC) down the spark plugs holes since it’s sat for years - I’m not sure if that’s a good idea here as well or if nothing is needed? It looks like the spark plug holes are a bit dirty (some oil/carbon). I’m also wondering how effective those upper cylinder treatments are and if they’ll really blast that junk out of there somewhere.



Dry timing chain

A few plugs are pretty crusty

I was told to remove the SKP seal and use this one. Hopefully it’s installed properly - used black RTV amd pressed it until it felt right.

Packed with petroleum jelly following advice

Hopefully this won’t screw up the water pump gasket seal since I already installed it and torqued the bolts. Used black RTV - maybe I should’ve used red right stuff.

 

Assembly lube is designed for this

 

I've installed the timing chains dry and used a little grease on the gears themselves and I've also soaked the chain in oil and then wiped it down and installed it. Honestly once that engine starts oil is going to be all over the place in there soon enough. Assembly lube, grease, and oil would all work. Since you've been turning the engine over by hand you could add a little bit of motor oil in each cylinder. The start up cycle is going to be important for you. Either turn assembled engine over by hand a good bit, then disconnect the fuel pump relay and bump it over a few times with the starter. Once you've done that a few times you'll be ready for an actual startup with fuel. Watch the oil pressure light, and if you get past about 15sec without it going out turn it off and let it sit, then try it again. Once the light goes out the upper engine assembly will sound loud as the rockers & lifters haven't fully got oil spread out up there yet. With the engine at idle you will clearly hear when the engine gets oil up top. Let it idle (DO NOT go nuts revving the engine).

 

Maybe it's the camera angle, but it looks like the timing is off a tooth?????

 

I think it’s just the angle since I have the marks lined up straight and turned the engine a few times. It seemed like there wasn’t really any way to even put the chain assembly on incorrectly. I rotated to TDC before removing the chain and put everything back exactly how it wanted to fit with the keys. The cam sprocket was difficult to remove and require some rubber mallet tapping to get back in. I bolted it back in after checking that the marks kept lining up straight with every two rotations. I sort of figured that bolting (torqued to 37 ft lb with loctite) the cam sprocket would sit as it should in case it was a bit proud or angled slightly (since it didn’t slide right into the key). The crank sprocket slid right on easily, though.

 

Thanks everyone, I’ll do my best to lubricate the chain with motor oil without making a mess and I’ll try to get a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder through the spark plug holes. Just wondering, do those upper cylinder treatments help and if stuff gets in there (dust from blue shop cloths, etc), does it get blasted out through the exhaust? I’m trying to understand how all of this works and I think this V8 is a decent engine to learn on.

 

Any small debris will burn off in the combustion chamber no doubt.

 

Sorry to keep after this, but we really don't want to have to open her up again, so just triple checking the timing marks. Notice the crank mark is actually between the teeth. And it can be put together wrong if things moved a little.

Rover V8 timing chain alignment

 

Thanks for helping me check this. I’m pretty sure it’s aligned, but it’s hard to get a good picture of it. I turned it again and I think it’s right. By the way, the camshaft bolt is supposed to turn with the sprocket right? Probably a dumb question.

 

This image might be better. I don’t think it would even let me put the chain on one tooth off because of the keys. I rolled to TDC before removing the chain and didn’t move anything. I put the new chain on as an assembly and when I was getting the chain on the sprockets, when it was a tooth off, it was very clear that it was off, so I’m pretty sure it’s aligned. I rotated the engine about 5 times and it feels fine to me - doesn’t feel like it’s colliding, making noise, being too difficult, etc. Thanks for helping check this.