DT wrote:

I remember when they first appeared. Ford of England used them on the BDA
engine (Belt Drive series A). My first one was on a Pinto 1600 engine.

The belt could be changed in 10 minutes. First, the engine was not sideways,
so you could get at it. Second, it wasn't even under a cover. Third, you did
not even have to remove the crank pulley.


The first car maker to use toothed timing belt to drive a camshaft was
Hans Glas of Germany. The car was a 1963 Glas 1600 Coupe. Glas was later
bought by BMW. Glas also made interesting microcars, the Goggomobil
range, but were two strokes so no belts or chains.
From where I stand as a humble consumer, toothed timing belts are the
work of the devil. They give no warning of impending failure, and
overlooking a scheduled change will often end in tears. A chain on the
other hand give audible noise if it's on its way out, and will pretty
well keep on going with its guts hanging out.
Having said that, the simplicity and economy of belts are hard to
ignore, and as you say, as long as they are designed to be easily
serviced, could be a tolerable solution. The time to check that is
before you buy the car!

Jordan