VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 292 6 cylinder whining.

I have a 1963 Chevy truck with a 292 six. I just had the engine completly rebuilt. It runs great but its whining from the engine like a hot rod gear drive. I was told it may be the alternator but I removed the belt and ran it, it still whins. I was also told that the whining could be the timing gears and it will go away with wear but that does not sound right to me. What do you think?

The 292 used an aluminum timing gear.The advantage is that it is more durable than a fiber gear.The disadvantage is that it can make more noise.If the crankshaft steel gear was not replaced it will make even more noise for a while.
It MAY get better with use. :)

Concur with Chevgene. Installed an aluminum timing gear on a '54 235 without changing the crank gear and it sounded like a corn sheller for about 5,000 miles. It will eventually quiet down but if you drive it on a trip as I did it's like having a sharp stick in the eye.

Back in 59 when I replaced a 235 with a 261 short block, I noticed it had an aluminum cam gear and asked my dad if they were heavy duty as compared to a fibre gear,he said yes and noisy if you used one to replace a fibre one. since the new short block also had a new crankshaft gear it was not noisy.
He also told me that a fibre one was good for a lot of miles as long as the bearing behind it was lubricated, and it didn't make any difference if the bearing behind the gear froze up from lack of oil it would cause the gear to strip, even the aluminum ones.