Dual Chain on Stock Motor

[droptopyota]

First post on the forums, hope you guys can help me make a decision! Seems like the plastic guides on my '85 22re finally gave out after 156k miles, no surprise there. Considering the dual chain upgrade from LCE but am under the impression that it reduces power due to the "extra weight" and is only necessary for power mods. Kind of on a tight budget and I plan on keeping the motor relatively stock, should I stick to the single row with metal guides? I should note, I do put significant miles on the car and drive it relatively hard.

[sirdan]

I don't think you would notice the hp loss as it would be so small. I think your choice depends on your budget ultimately. Im broke so I have metal guides. They have made it at least 30k on this engine so far.

[blockade-runner85]

in what way do you drive it hard? the dual row is, from what ive been informed, only beneficial to those that are in constant high rpms and such. i plan to get it myself as it is a reliability bonus, and at most the upgrade adds maybe a few pounds to the rotating assembly. youd easily return whatever theoretical parasitic loss with deleting the fan clutch and installing an electric fan conversion too, which would make the engine more "Snappy". I'd suggest running the metal backed guides for your application though for budget constraints.

[ozzie]

If your budget is tight, stick with the single row chain. IIRC you need a custom timing cover to fit the dual row chain to an 85+ motor, plus a few other parts from pre-85 dual row motors.