cams hard to fit.diy

[vq_statss]

im prety mechincal minded.never actually worked on a v8 much just things like.rebuild carbies.replace manifold and tune it me self(old v8 this is) replaced gearbox.clutches.also me 4wd i do all the work.diff locks.gearbox.cv joints and bearings seals.brakes ect.......but ive never actually pulled a motor apart.is it a hard or technical job to replace cam...can somone explain how hard it is and roughly whats to be done..cheers thanks.

[CAM05L]

mate im in the same boat as you. i am getting some mates to help me do mine cause they are/were mechanics but personally i wouldnt have tried it without them....

[pandaman]

This is just a rough guide. I've only done this once, so it's not like i've got years of experience or anything, I'd reccomned that anyone considerering doing this get themselves a gregory's or ellery's manual, even if it's just for the bolt torque tables. Chances are I've forgotten a fair few things in here, and some stuff like removing the balancer and turning the engine over by hand isn't as simple as it sounds. Anyway, here we go with the short novel.

Ok, to just do the cam change and nothing else is still a fairly big job. Gotta remove air intake, clutch fan, radiator, A/C condensor, rocker covers, rockers and pushrods (make sure to keep these in order), intake manifold, water pump harmonic balancer and timing cover. Then you've got the valley and timing gears exposed. Remove the dissy, but before you do, VERY carefully mark the relationship betweent the block, distributor body and rotor, I'd reccomend using a strip of gaffer tape straight up the front of the dizzy, down onto the block and up over the rotor to hold it in place and cutting the tape where it comes onto the block. (all with the motor at no.1 TDC) So then the rotor is held in place and when you chuck the dizzy back in you can just line up the tape on the block and the dizzy. (didn't quite work for me, but i was only using electrical tape which didn't grip so good) Now remove the dizzy. Remove the lifters, then unbolt the cam gear and cam thrust plate, remove the timing gear, chain and thrust plate and pull the cam out. Don't use too much force getting the cam out, gentle persuasion is best, ya don't wanna damage the bearings if you inend to keep it to a simple cam change.

Now everything is apart. Time to clean. Clean the mating surfaces on the intake manifold, Stuff the runners with rag, then use a gasket scraper, 600 grit wet and dry, 1200 grit and then WD40 on a rag, did mine quite nicely. Now for the heads. lay a rag down across the valley, and stuff the ports with rag, might be an idea to block the oil and coolant galleries as well if ya don't wanna be flushing crap outta the oiling system for three weeks as I ended up doing. Anyway, get every trace of gasket off the head mating surfaces, then remove the rags from the ports and galleries so that any junk caught in them lands on the rag in the valley, then carefully remove the rag from the valley making sure you don't dump the load of junk through the valley and into the sump. Because that would suck. Also give the lifter bores a wipe with wd40 on a rag, make sure there's no gunk in there.

Once everything is clean it's time for reassembly. Coat your cam lobes and lifter bases in moly grease, (remember new cam means you need new lifters) and coat the bearing journals in fresh engine oil. Depending on who you talk to different people say to lube the dizzy and oil pump drive gears with the moly lube or engine oil. I went with the oil I think. Slide that cam in, once again being careful not to damage the bearings. Slide the lifters into the bores, making sure that they can rotate freely. Install the cam thrust plate and cam gear with a new timing chain as a minimum, a lot of cam manufacturers reccomend an adjustable cam timing set as well.

Now dial that sucker in, there are a few ways of doing this, instructions for your cam manufacturers preferred method will probably come with the cam. Chuck the timing cover, harmonic balancer and water pump back on. Now make sure no. 1 is at TDC on the compression stroke (so the timing mark is poiting at 0 degrees and both no.1 lobes are closed) then reinstall the dizzy in relation to your tape markers. (try to get it as close to where it was as possible, mine ended up a ways retarded and that caused no end of grief) Next reinstall the pushrods and rockers to number one, move the engine to TDC (close is good enough, as long as the lobes are in the closed position) on number two and install the pushrods and rockers on that. Keep going round according to the firing order (12784563) until they're all installed. Oh right, new rocker bolts are advisable, I've heard of a couple of cases of old ones shearing when reused.

Put the rocker covers and inlet manifold back on and the radiator, condensor, air intake and anything else I've forgotten etc. Fill the cooling system with coolant, fill her with oil, maybe let a few litres run straight through to flush any loose junk out of the sump. Make sure everything is tightened properly, and you don't have a case of the "bolts left over".

Now assuming I haven't forgotten anything major, it's ready to be run in. Once again, your cam will probably come with instructions for the manufacturers preferred run in procedure, I did a little over 20minutes between 2000 and 2700 rpm. Once it's run in, do the oil and filter, and you're good to go. Might be an idea to take it easy on it for a week or so but that should work, did for me.

[Dan355]

How much you looking at costing u if u got a reputable mechanic to do the work? Im still tossing up wether to do it myself or not, Only two months to go

[xcop5l]

i would say you (pandaman) have gotten it realitvly close there. i only had a quick glance at what was written.
if you want advice on a cam change or any other info on the 5ltrs (mechanical work ect) add me to msn ill be happy to answer any questions you have.

if your going to change the cam i would recomend getting the heads done to match the cam, you will also need to have the chip done.

as for pricing i would have to say to ring arround but at a rough geuss maby 2000. most likely more depending on the mechanic and if it needs more done to it than just lifters and a cam

[CAM05L]

yea i have been quoted around $2800 for cam, lifters all the crap,timing chain and custom tune drive in drive out. so maybe if you got the cash but not the time it may be better just to pay someone

[Dan355]

Thats fair i guess.

[vq_statss]

yea thanks xcop ill add u if thats ok....good info.

[xcop5l]

thats ok man.

[AklHoon]

Hey i hope this helps,I had a new cam made for my race car and was also told by several race builders that 1 of the best cam lubes to use is penrite cam lube and Penzoil racing 25/50 oil to run cam in under no circumstances let the engine idle during the first 20 minutes of running make sure engines is tuned according to be able to run safely without cooking for at least 20 minutes.

It must be able to start instantly and run atleast at 2000 rpm.
The reason for penzoil 25/50 is it is made under american standards and still contains zinc and copper for better adhesion and lubrecation of bearings etc.

Hope this helps