Tming Chain Problems

[MY_84_VK]

Hey guys,

I've got a problem and I'm hoping that someone can help me out

I'm rebuilding a Holden V8 to go into my VK commodore. I've changed the heads to VN ones and installed a new EFI camshaft.

Now the problem is on the crankshaft gear theres no markings so I'm having trouble lining up the chain.

Now I know that if I can find top dead centre on the 1st piston I should be fine, I believe that when the piston is at the top of the block on its way back down into the block either the inlet or exhaust valve opens, Does anyone know which one is which in relation to the front of the block? So for example is the inlet valve on the first piston the one closest to the front of the block or the rear?

Now my second question is once I have found this, on the camshaft gear there is the timing mark, does this dot sit at 9 oclock or 3 oclock?
I've read that one is 180 degrees out but I don't know which one.

Any help would be great, and I will try to get a picture up tomorrow to try and show what I think is right.

Cheers Luke

[*uwishn*]

can't help you there though i suggest you buy a Holden v8 engine book i rebuilt mine off one of them with very simple instructions,
in mine i had to count the teeth on the chain,though with different heads i'm not sure. fairly sure it would be in the book.

[ari666]

9 links dot to dot but your gonna have real issues if there is no crank gear dot

[ari666]

sorry. bit of an obscure answer last night: i was tired

there SHOULD be a dot on your crank sproket. are you sure you have it on the correct way? i.e. take it off and spin it round. itll most probably be a tiny dot on the tip of one of the teeth. both dots should be at 3 oclock facing the PASSENGER side. then the chain will sit with 9 links seperating the 2 dots.

as far as which valve is forward, you can figure that out yourself. look at the head. i would hazard a guess that the very first valve in the line is intake but that is a HUGE guess and is probably wrong. but you wont need to worry about that once you have found that dot and counted the nine links

[MY_84_VK]

Nope theres no markings on the back its just on the front and they look like this:



Am I right to assume that the O in the bottom right of the sprocket is the new dot timing mark?

[MY_84_VK]

Pretty sure I have it right now, everything lines up accordingly and the valves open when they should

[ari666]

yeah the 0 is straight up. the A=advanced and the r=retarded. pretty hit-and-miss chainset, i wouldnt ever use anything other than 0 on that TBH. the a could be anywhere around 8 degrees advanced which seems risky.

anyway, so yeah that crank keyway and the 0 mark should be on the passneger side and the tooth that the 0 is closest to is your mark. nine links from that should line up with your camgear mark.

glad to see you got it