Replacing my timing chain and gears w/ a performance set from Cloyes. As with anyone else who has installed one of these before the dampner does not fit b/c the sprockets are larger than the original. I've read through most of the archives on this subject and most people ground down their existing dampner to make it fit w/ the oversized sprocket set.

I want to know the potential impact of not installing the dampner? Most of the cars I've owned in the past did not have one...and I don't see the need for one. Although, I also know engineers don't normally throw in extra parts when designing / building motors. Any thoughts / experience out there?

Thanks for looking.

you can leave the damper out with no ill effects. others on here have and i did when i rebuilt my 2.8 a couple yrs back.

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Keith
Topsail Beach,NC
86&87 Fiero GT
86&96 Corvette
04 Harley Davidson Softail
73 Lotus Europa Twin Cam
86 Lotus Turbo Esprit

"He who dies with the most toys wins!!!"

I also have a Cloyes timing set on my 2.8 V6. I found that with the damper installed, the chain & sprockets will not fit. But if I remove the damper, install the chain & sprockets, and then re-install the damper, it (just barely) fits. Also, it helps to have a damper that's worn from use.

Blacktree:

Did you find the Cloyes set really made any difference in performance? The marketing hype claims 10 HP...but I doubt that. Just hopping that it will last longer than the last one.

r/

I have no idea about the HP increase... not concerned about it, either. My reason for installing the Cloyes timing set was for durability. It doesn't stretch as much as the stock type. And I have aftermarket valvetrain components (e.g. more stress on the timing chain).

That said, there's no guarantee that your timing damper will fit. I may have gotten lucky. But if yours doesn't fit, I don't see any problem leaving it out.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 11-14-2007).]

I left it out completely and put everything back together w/o any problems. So far have not experienced anything unusual b/c I left the dampner out. If something crops up will update this thread...otherwise consider it something ok to do. Thanks for the feedback/opinions.