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Certainly some stretch, didn't bother to measure how much. The magnet from the cam sensor had come adrift and had peppered the chain also.

Yes, standard oil pump and cover.

Holden 6 & V8 came std with an oil squirter for the timing gears/chain.

Not price difference these days between a single or double. I assume the reinforced single is plenty for adding boost to the Ecotec. Single would also save the need to the thicker oil cover. I also take it balance shaft can still be disengaged with the singe ?

I was looking at my new Roll Master 304 timing chain, double row, the crank sprocket is case hardened but the cam sprocket isn't. Seems weird to not do both.

v6bucket wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:19 am Holden 6 & V8 came std with an oil squirter for the timing gears/chain.

I'd forgotten about the straight 6's, remember the fibre gear.

vxcalais wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:13 pm Not price difference these days between a single or double. I assume the reinforced single is plenty for adding boost to the Ecotec. Single would also save the need to the thicker oil cover. I also take it balance shaft can still be disengaged with the singe ?

Yes you can, you just need to leave the gear that drives the balance shaft behind the chain sprocket in place as it acts as a spacer for the proper alignment of the single timing chain sprockets. Just remove the sprocket on the front of the balance shaft to make in in-operable. leave the balance shaft in place unless you block the oil feed to the rear balance shaft bearing.

immortality wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:26 pm

vxcalais wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:13 pm Not price difference these days between a single or double. I assume the reinforced single is plenty for adding boost to the Ecotec. Single would also save the need to the thicker oil cover. I also take it balance shaft can still be disengaged with the singe ?

Yes you can, you just need to leave the gear that drives the balance shaft behind the chain sprocket in place as it acts as a spacer for the proper alignment of the single timing chain sprockets. Just remove the sprocket on the front of the balance shaft to make in in-operable. leave the balance shaft in place unless you block the oil feed to the rear balance shaft bearing.

Excellent tips as usual . I see a Crow Cams/ JP single for only $155. CS6VS looks to cover all from VS-VT (94) but I assume they push the double row for all VX onward ecotecs.

immortality wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:26 pm

vxcalais wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 9:13 pm Not price difference these days between a single or double. I assume the reinforced single is plenty for adding boost to the Ecotec. Single would also save the need to the thicker oil cover. I also take it balance shaft can still be disengaged with the singe ?

Yes you can, you just need to leave the gear that drives the balance shaft behind the chain sprocket in place as it acts as a spacer for the proper alignment of the single timing chain sprockets. Just remove the sprocket on the front of the balance shaft to make in in-operable. leave the balance shaft in place unless you block the oil feed to the rear balance shaft bearing.

That's what I did in my VR. Works well. Except there is no oil feed on the VR, so the whole shaft got tossed

But yeah, double chain makes more sense if you are going to upgrade as it is the same effort either way.

They are fine and will out live the term of the motor, we run them on 1000+HP builds.
Make sure you run 2x timing cover gaskets or the zzp extra thick timing cover gasket.
Also run a machined oil pump cover from mace.

I’d be interested to know if the factory chains are known for breaking? If they ain’t known for breaking then I’d stick with stock. But if they are a weak point and a double row is needed and you can’t run the balance shaft with them I’d look into internally balancing the engine. I’ve also found that on most engines that run all of there accessories off the one belt, generally have issues with at least one part of that system. I’d like to at least run the a/c off its own belt on the ecotec. And been thinking about ways to fix the common lim gasket failure point.

I don't think they break but they sure do get sloppy.

The fix for the LIM gaskets are the later model alloy intake gaskets.