What is the best way to tell what condition the timing chain is in? My motor has about 230,000kms on it (still runs fantastic though) but I have no idea whether or not it has been replaced before? I know it is good preventive maintenance to just replace it but what if it was done before i bought the car. (i have contributed 40,000kms to the odo).
Also, i think i will just stick to a chain, not gears. I would love to hear a car with timing gears but i've never come across any. Can anyone recommend a good brand of chain?

The chain will be fine still, EFI 5.0's have hydraulic roller cams, so they don't stretch the chain much, if at all. I've heard of windsors having over 500,000km on them and the timing chain is still fine.

IMO the best time to chnge the chain is when you do a manifold and cam change.

The wear in a roller chain is measured by the backlash. Try and physically move the chain - on the spockets while installed - the rollers should be sitting nice and firm IN the reliefs on the sprockets. The chains job is to keep the cam in the desired position in relation to the crank. You should not be able to move the crank without getting a response from the cam. The amount of maximum "slack" in the chain is 0.5 inch. If you have 230 000k on this chain, then thats probably a good brand.

i pulled the clevo apart and the jp geardrive had shat itself - the idler and power gears have flogged out either there bearings or there mounts
the donks done about 5000 ks , some very harsh ones in burnout comps