[Shotimes] Question About Swapping Cams

[Zach Leahy]

Frank,

you're fairly right on.

just take the cams out of the 3.0 head and put them in the 3.2l head.
I would say use the 3.2l caps if they are in good condition.  I would
sy it is better to have them matched with the ones on the head so
there are no ridgge lines from any differennt wear patterns or such.
Potentially you could have a small ridge where the cap and the head
meet which would allow for huge amounts of wear.  I would say you are
better going with the 3.2 caps ont he 3.2 heads.

Put a set of lsh caps and shims in it from either head, if you are
going to re-shim it it doesn'e really matter.  If you were not going
to reshim it, I would hit you with a ball bat for being lazy :).

As far as shimming it goes, I have done this w/o the tools myself.  It
can be done, and it can net the same results.  It's easiest w/o the
head on the car, but probably more accurate with it on.  What I did
was to put everything together and measure all the clearances and
record them.  I then took the cams back out and swapped shims around
to adjust the clearances.  Then at the end I put the cams back in and
re measured.  It took about 2 iterations to get them perfectly right,
and an afternoon of playing around with them.  So yes you can shim
them out without the tools.

As far as timing goes (and this is all from memory), if you look at
the timing chains there are 2 "white" links on them.  What I mean
there is that by this time and all the oil that is on them, you will
find 2 very slightly different looking links onthe chain.  it's hard
to find them, but you will eventually.  Those links will line up with
the dots on the chain sprockets.  I think when they are all assembled,
the dots and links are horizontally opposed in (given the head plane
is horizontal, which it isn'r unless it is on the floor).  If you are
looking from the driver's side, the 9, and 3 positions on the clock
face.  You will want to double check this on against the book, but I
am pretty sure that's right.  While you are shimming them, the
alignment of the cams does not matter much, it is non-interference so
you won't have to worry about hitting a piston with a valve. But a
good rule of thumb is that if it is taking an incredible amount of
force to do something, you are probably doing something wrong and
about to break any of a number of things, including a wrench.  (Been
there done that, I have a wrench with a 15 degree bend in it... and I
did it without a cheater bar..  at 6'2" and 275#s it's easier than you
think..)

Anyway, lemme know if you have any questions.

Z


On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 01:03:51 -0500, Frank SHOrage Costa
<SHOrage@brothersofmetal.org> wrote:
> If i were to swap the cams right now from the still intact 3.0 head to the
> dismantled 3.2 head.....
> 
> Can i just...
> 
> Unbolt the cam caps, move shims over to the new head in proper sequence...and
> then just place the cam over the shims and then cap em?
> 
> And if i can, how do i know which way to have the cams facing as in timing...
> 
> For some reason i am happy this motor is not interference but i have to make
> sure with everyone on the list....
> 
> Then when all is said and done Adjust the valves...
> 
> Bottom line is,  i got parts in the shed but not valve adjustment
> tools....which means i cant remove the shims from the old head before removing
> the cam and vice versa....
> 
> For now, i wanna get as much done as i can.....
> 
> Frank Costa and the "Silver Bullet" soon to be a 3.2
> 
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