I am interested in buying a RCD Gear Drive for a BBC and wanted to ask if anyone has experience with them.

Bob

I put one on my Blown TD motor. Very nice piece but comes with zero instructions and they dont have any but I figured it out pretty easily. You will get a very nice billet cover, 2 gears and a bag of bolts

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Big Steve,

Here is a video on how to degree a Donovan gear drive if your interested, same principle applies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tdAZtTCabM

I have used and setup a Mildon, seemed to work good, came with instructions. The RCD is a nicer piece though....

I almost put one on but decided on a belt drive at the last minute. With the belt all my pulleys still lined up and with the gear drive I would have had to make some adjustments.

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":
I have used and setup a Mildon, seemed to work good, came with instructions. The RCD is a nicer piece though....

The idler gear lash on the RCD is fixed, no adjustment needed like the Mildon. But if your block has been align bored an excessive amount then you have to special order a smaller crank gear with the RCD

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":
I have used and setup a Mildon, seemed to work good, came with instructions. The RCD is a nicer piece though....

The idler gear lash on the RCD is fixed, no adjustment needed like the Mildon. But if your block has been align bored an excessive amount then you have to special order a smaller crank gear with the RCD

My Fowler is the same way...………..

I had the RCD on my blower motor, was VERY nice. One big difference i noticed is the number of bolts that hold the top sprocket to the cam spud is different from the RCD to the milodon. RCD has 11 bolts i believe and the milodon has only 7. This determines the number of available positions for degreeing (advancing and retarding) the cam. More bolts = more advance/retard options. The instructions for the milodon gear drive outline the process very well. Huntsville engine complained quite a bit about installing my RCD when they built it for me said it took them quite a while to degree the cam when they built it.

Basically you find TDC on the piston, then find the @ 0.050 lift number on the cam with no gear installed on the cam, then install the sprocket on the cam, mark cam hub with a dot, and cam sprocket at 1 bolt hole, then number all the rest of the bolt holes, rotate the crank to the @ 0.050" lift degree, and install all gears and timing cover. If you want to advance or retard you will need to remove the cam sprocket and rotate to a different bolt hole corresponding to their numbering convention. IE #1 bolt hole = 0 adv/ret, #2 bolt hole = 6 adv/ret, 3 bolt hole = 4 adv/ret, etc. You will need to look on RCD website for their numbering/adv/ret convention. Its located in their tech pages section of the website. I think the bolt pattern is called "vernier" pattern.

I have seen a milodon in person and it appears to be good quality, as far as gears and things go, only difference i noticed aside from the sprocket bolt number was its a cast cover vs. a billet cover. I'm planning on using the milodon on my 615 build.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Triple Nickel,

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:

quote:

Originally posted by "The Bender":
I have used and setup a Mildon, seemed to work good, came with instructions. The RCD is a nicer piece though....

The idler gear lash on the RCD is fixed, no adjustment needed like the Mildon. But if your block has been align bored an excessive amount then you have to special order a smaller crank gear with the RCD

Smaller crank gear and same cam gear? That should make for an interesting "can't figure out why my car is slowing down" thread...

Edit: oh, lol, I see now.

I have the milidon, which it looks like is $300 cheaper than rcd. Not sure I see what you're getting.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BJs Wild Ride,

For those that the Vernier timing process makes your eyes glaze over. It's only as hard as you make it.
http://www.donovanengines.com/...donovan-gear-drives/