cams cams cams

[oldeskewltoy]

PLEASE tell me you intend to set them correctly...

if so... make sure you KNOW TDC EXACTLY.... (pet peeve) and NO the dot on the oil pump and the little groove is not likely to be EXACTLY TDC.....




You will need to remove the crankshaft pulley mounting bolt, remove all the spark plugs, remove the upper and middle timing covers. Install crank bolt through the timing wheel, torque the bolt to about 35#s - tight enough so you can rotate the engine in both directions. Take a stiff piece of wire and make it into a pointer... you can see in the pic we used one of the oil pump mounting bolts to temporarily mount the stiff wire.



my timing wheel is mounted on a piece of 20 gauge steel...


At this point you should be able to turn the engine either way without the wheel coming free. Rotate the engine till you have 2 timing teeth away from TDC - what you think is TDC. Thread in the piston stop into #1 spark plug hole



Thread the piston stop center down until it stops. Rotate the engine counter clockwise 3 or 4 teeth, stop, now GRADUALLY rotate the engine clockwise. The engine should stop at or about the place where you began from. Mark that point on the timing wheel. (I like using a pencil) Rotate the engine counterclockwise GRADUALLY until it stops. Mark that point on the timing wheel. count the number between marks, divide that by 2 and THAT is TDC......

Before you ask... to find TDC... the timing wheel doesn't have to be set @ TDC. You are just rotating it to stop one way, marking it, and then the other, marking it. And then you count the hash marks between the 2 marks you placed, divide by 2.


Once you have TDC set.... then to properly set the timing wheel you can adjust it....


I... no longer do that... once I know TDC... I then mark 180 degrees opposite as BDC and then just use the hash marks to count either before... or after to check cam timing.


Once TDC is known... I remove the piston stop, and from this point on you ONLY rotate the engine clockwise... DO NOT, while checking/setting cam timing, rotate the engine counterclockwise.


Oh... to properly set cam timing... you'll need this tool \/ and both intake and exhaust timing sheets