I have had experience with a couple of Chevette engines. One was in a Chevette the other was a Pontiac 1000, which was their version of the car.The problem I had was the timing belt. The belt is a rubber cog belt and they last for over 60k miles and are fairly easy to replace. However, if the lower timing gear and bolt are not replaced with new at the time the job is done, a few thousand miles down the road the bolt in the lower timing gear fatigues and breaks. I had this happen to both cars after a timing belt replacement. One job was done by an automotive shop and one I did myself. The cost of having the bolt drilled out and replaced easily cost more than the timing belt replacement job because the radiator and grill have to be removed in order to do the repairs.
The only positive about the engine is that it was designed so that if the timing belt breaks while the engine is running it does not cause the pistons to crash into the valves that are open at the time. Not so with some engines.
I have also had a VW and worked on and rebuilt a VW engine. They are probably the easiest engine to work on and tune, all except for replacing spark plugs.
You would probably be better off with another 4 cyl. engine. A Saturn engine is a work of art. They come in single and double overhead cam versions and use a metal timing chain which should be good for well over 100k miles.
Good luck on your project and I hope this information has been helpful.
Edwin
Edwin E.
Chevette vs. VW
Posted - July 09 2002 : 2:45:28 PM
