broken timing chain

[tufcj]

With an AMC V-8 engine, it's going to depend on compression and cam lift. My bone stock 304 slipped by one tooth, and I was able to get it home (although running poorly) by twisting the distributor, resetting the timing. Once home and shut off, it skipped several more teeth when I tried to restart it again. There was never any valve to piston contact or bent valves or pushrods. I dropped a new timing set in it and happily drove another 30K miles before swapping in a 360.

I did have a Mopar with a 383 Magnum engine (prior to the Jeep) that had a nylon gear, when that jumped, it bent nearly every pushrod in it, and I had to have the heads done because of bent valves. But it was a higher compression, higher lift cam engine.

Bob
tufcj

[crazydog]

The 360 that was in my 1979 Cherokee had a nylon gear when I got after about a year and with an unknown number of miles the gear disintegrated. After I put in a new timing set, I really regretted not swapping in a cam at that time. But, building the 401, got me over that real quick.