Cam Install

[red94fiveo]

I am getting ready to swap my heads and cam as soon as everything gets here. Anyway, I feel fairly comfortable with the headswap, but don't really know much about the cam install. If anyone could give me some more info on what I will be doing, it would be appreciated. I was planning on picking up a ca, degree kit from Summit, PN# SUM-61056. Will I need any other specialty tools? Thanks.

 

[moneypit94]

Im having a hard time on summit's site seeing what all comes in the kit. A cam install can be fairly tricky and somewhat complicated. Do you have a new timing chain? I would recomment the fms one. It is not absolutly necessary but if the cam is just a little off, degreeing it involves the use of shims.

Parts needed:
new 1250 intake gaskets
timing cover gaskets
balancer seal


Do you have a balancer puller?

For ease i suggest having your AC vacummed out at a shop and after your done have them put it back in, because for me I had to remove the condensor for clearence. Which brings me to a AC line/ fuel line tool.

Then to start off with find top dead center. You can have the timing cover off and have the crank key facing straight up and there should be a mark on the cam wheel that will face straight down torwards the crank key. You have now found close tdc for the crankshaft. Put your degree wheel and use whatever you can to use as a marker on the degree wheel aimed at 0* tdc. To truley find the absolute tdc you need a piston stop. (which amounts to a bolt that will screw in the # 1 cylinder.) After placing the bolt in you will have to spin the crank all the way to the left till it hits (mark that point on your degree wheel) now spin it all the way to the right till it hits ( and mark that point on your degree wheel. Now the middle of those two points will be the exact tdc. Turn the crank till the degree wheel is directly in the middle of those two points and loosen up and reposition the degree wheel to were it is marked at 0* tdc. That is the absolute tdc of your motor.

Now would be a good time to remove your old cam...

If your interested i can give you a discription on how to put in and degree the new cam... Which you will be set for if you do it this way.

Otherwise i will take it that my righting is confusing as hell... And the fun part is only just beggining...

My advice is if you haven't done it before get somebody over there that has.

BTW there are easier ways but they are not as accurate and the cam may end up not being degreed in correctly.

 

[moneypit94]

Alright part TWO:

Tools:
Dial Indicator

Now that you have taken out the cam and timing chain. You stick in the cam. You will again possition the gears on the timing chain to where the keyway notch on the crank and the mark on the timing gear are facing directly up and down from each other and then slide them on the crank and the cam (make sure you have cam possitioned the right way, the crank should still be in the right possition.) You will then slide them on. IF your lucky you won't have to mess with the timing chain and gears again.

Now to see if its degreed correctly. To do this you really need a solid lifter but it can be done with a hyd roller lifter. (By the way i didn't mention above but to remove the cam you needed to remove all the lifters.) You need a DIAL INDICATOR now...
You will have to set up the dial indicator on the intake side of the cam for the #1 cylinder and possition it on the lifter (or the rocker if you used a solid lifter). when the lifter is down set your dial indicator to 0... Then turn the crank and wait till the dial indicator hits .050. On your cam card or sheet it will tell you what the degree should be at .050 Just to make sure go the other way intill you hit .050. One will be when the valve closes an one will be when it opens. If your numbers match up to whats on the sheet then your cam is degreed in and you can start putting everything back together.

If not this is where it is really nice to have a good cam gear. (But first you might want to check and make sure that your at dtc again. With a good cam gear you can advance it or retard it. Otherwise you will need to use shims or offset keys.

On my FTI cam I had to advance it 2 degrees to get it degreed correctly. With ed's cams there are multiple ways to have it degreed in depending on the weight of the car.

There is another way to degree in your cam which is called the intake centerline method... It even says in ed's directions do not use this method.

 

[Green 94 5.0]

there is no need to have the a/c relieved of pressure. the drivers accessory bracket can hang during the install, and the condensor can be pulled completely out of the way once the screws are removed. when removing the old cam and inserting the new one, be very careful. you will have to maneuver it out by turning it as you pull. the same goes for installing it. do not force it and be patient because the last thing you want to do is damage the bearings.

 

[red94fiveo]

I haven't got my cam yet, will I get somed directions from Ed?