timing sets

Can anyone tell me if a gear drive timing set is worth the money difference from a double roller, & one idler gear or two. Does a gear drive timing set use up more power than a roller set ?  

uses more hp, makes noise,   however they are more accurate than a chain.

Not my thing, I use JP performance chains [roll on chain w/8 way billet gear set, made in australia.  
age is no lock on brillance

use a good double roller made in usa like edelbrock or cloyes etc. or a belt drive.  

edelbrock chains are garbage and cloyes makes good factory dbl roller chains but the billet setup is the way if you want the least amount of stretch and gear wear.  
age is no lock on brillance

If you make good choices to begin with, you'll be light years ahead of the game. I've always looked at gear drives as a fad...unless of course an engine came that way....and some did. That said, word on the street has always been that they are more accurate than a chain. However, I have to question just how much more accurate a gear drive is than a quality double roller chain. Remember, there's a difference between a double "row" chain and a double "roller". The double roller has high quality rollers inside the chain links to help reduce friction. The double row just has cheap stamped sleeves around the links. Avoid those. Also a tip from someone whose degreed more camshafts than he can remember. Use the same brand timing gear as your camshaft. If you do that, you'll not need to use a degree wheel, as the camshaft will be right where the timing card says it is. Now, that will not account for a poor camshaft choice. In other words, if the camshaft needs to be advanced or retarded because it is too small or too big. Do your homework and make a good camshaft selection to begin with. Camshaft degreeing is really only used to make certain there are no manufacturing discrepencies between different makes of parts. Using the same make parts greatly reduces the need. If you're mixing and matching parts from different manufacturers, there's no gaurantee that they both used the same "zero" when machining their parts.....know what I mean, Vern? Besides, you're not likely going to need an expensive degree setup to run on the street anyway. I will say that degreeing is a good idea, nonetheless. It's good practice. Just one more thing to learn to do and keep that brain functionin a while longer. I've just done this so long, that I know which parts to select and which to stay away from. That's the biggest thing to learn.  
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It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

Even if the timing gears/chain were sold by the same company as the cam, that is NO guarantee that either one will me made correctly, nevermind BOTH of them! Most stuff is made off-shore these days, and I constantly am forced to question the "quality" of most parts. Plus, who knows how great of a job some guy in Mopar's own machine shop cut the keyway in the 40 year-old crankshaft? I think I'll continue to always degree-in my cams, no matter who "made" the parts!  

That's not bad advice. But remember, I said choose good parts to begin with. Those do not include rinky dink overseas parts. I stand by what I said about street engines. You'll not see a noticable difference between degreeing and not on the street.....that is as long as you choose good parts. Let me put it another way. After over 400 documented engine builds and over thirty years, it gets old unless you want every single ounce of power from a given combination. Usually, that's only on race engines where people are paying for every last ounce. Understand, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from degreeing a camshaft correctly. In fact, I DO recommend it. Let's be clear on that. I was and am merely giving "my" personal opinion. ....and as for parts not being machined correctly, you'd be drop dead surprised how close quality parts are. I would trust an original Chrysler crank any day over something from the aftermarket. They did a lot better job than you might think. And still do.  
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It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

why are edelbrock garbage? cloyes and speed pro and comp cams and ed all make 3 levels $ of timing sets also melling and elgin etc. top is a .250" true roller. mopars in my opinion do not need cams degreed in. if it ends up a little advanced u will have more low end, a little retarded and u have more top end. now I have done some fords etc. that are off by 10 degrees. buy made in USA  

one's i've checked after a few hundred miles were flapping in the breeze, thats all.jmo  
age is no lock on brillance

You can just about match the timing of a gear drive easily by using the following numbers. I wonder why them NASCAR boys don't run gear drives? (Insert scratchin head smiley here)

P3690866

P5007709  
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It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

Are you building a race car or for street?
Use a quality double roller for the street and the best you can find for a race eng. I put a chain tensioner on my last build.  They are worth the extra money.  They do not prevent chain stretch, but keep the slack out.  All chains will stretch some after about 500 miles.  Mancini seems to have the best price on these.
Don  

Actually I'm building an engine for a pulling tractor so I guess its a race motor. .71RedneckStroker, where do those part #s come from & with that amount of experience do you have any advice on building a 500ci stroker in a 440 block. I'm been looking at 440Source, Hughes Eng. & I see Indy has some stroker kits. I currently am using 65cc 440-1 Indy heads with an Indy single plane intake on a stock eng. that I want to reuse on the stroker motor.  

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Those part numbers are from the Mopar Performance catalog. They are for a small block, though. I reckon I read between the lines wrong. I thought this was a small block discussion. Sorry about that. I've built and run a few big blocks, but most of my experience is with the little A engines. However, I'll do my best here. It's "MY" personal opinion that a 500 cube engine is a waste of money. Here's my reasoning. Look at the dollar amounts. That's a BIG cash outlay for only 60 cubes, ain't it? So, why not save some more with it and really build something? The Indy heads are really good. I think they are hard to beat. I'll tell you someone else to call. He is a friend of a friend. His name is David Klutts. Tell him a friend of Billy Payton (the friend of Billy is me, Rob) told you to call. I'm not certain he'll remember my name, but he will Billy's. Let him know what you want to do. He's a top notch guy. David's number is 704-485-3380. He is out of the Charlotte area....if that tells you anything.  
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It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

there is no replacement for displacement.  60 cubes is 60 cubes.  indy heads are a very good top end for any b/rb engine, but with a few minor mods to the head you will have plunty of flow for a 500cid engine.  There is a dodge truck that runs with the 6300 mod street 4x4 trucks running a 510cid engine that is at the top of the class all the time.  his father-in-law is Lee Edwards from calverton VA.  
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme2/eastpulling/LEEEDWARDSAD.html
here you can find out more info on ewards and email him directly.