im in the beginning stages of doing the "secret" cam swap. my cams have a bit of surface rust on them how do you clean them off?
my cam lube is on its way. plus did any one replace the three engine mount bolts like the book and tech sheet says?
You should be able to the rust off with a soft cloth and some goo gone. There are a lot of mild abbrasives that will work if you don't have goo gone. That's for the lobes. If you are having trouble getting the rust off the shaft in between the lobes, try an old toothbrush. I never bothered replacing mount bolts and I can't even count how many times my upper has been out in the past 3 years. I didn't use assembly lube when I did my cams, but when I did my head swap I used it. Oil will work, assembly lube is just thicker and will coat better. I didn't mind spending the 7 bucks for some peace of mind...
Sask GM Performance (formerly SaskJbody) president
you can reuse the bolts, they are not torque to yeild.
HP Tuners | Garrett T3/T04B | 2.5" Charge Pipes | 2.5" Downpipe | 650 Injectors | HO Manifold | Addco front/rear | Motor Mounts | HKS SSQV | Spec stage 3 | AEM UEGO Wideband | Team Green LSD | FMIC | 2.3 cams | 2.3 oil pump swap | 280WHP | Now ECOTECED
it hought the little bit of surface scuffing was okay so i let it slide. i used the green doo on them just to be sure. its 6.20 here and i cant get it timed properly. im not sure the pins have some play in them so i can tight the slack up top between the spockets but the it wasnt that tight when i took it off. another thing i didnt remove the tensioner shoe. it didnt want to come off so i got the chain off anyways.
im worried that i will put it on wrong and @!#$ the engine up. the cams are in new gaskets, just got to get it timed any help would be nice,
thanks ,
Nick
you will need to retime the engine which is super easy to do. you will need 2 dowls (3/8" bolts will do IIRC). The reason we turned the engine off TDC is just incase the spring pressure decided to turn a cam and snap a valve onto a piston (once you do it you will understand) so ensure that the cam gears are installed and torqued on, (loctite too) then find the little timing hole (which you have seen on your new gears by now), and insert the dowls in the aligning holes in the block (5 and 7 o'clock IIRC) and then your cams are adjusted. VERY SLOWLY turn the engine back to TDC ensuring the pistons do not hit the valves, and install the chain, guides, tensioner, then push the tensioner with flat screwdriver to reset it, and you have just timed the engine and tightened the chain up.
IMPORTANT : MAKE SURE WHEN THE DOWLS ARE IN THE CAM GEARS THE CHAIN HAS ZERO, NONE, 0, SLACK, AND NO SLACK BETWEEN THE INTAKE CAM AND CRANK. THEN LET THE TENSIONER REMOVE ALL THE REMAINDER OF SLACK. once you are sure the tensioner is reset and tightened up chain, remove dowls, and ensure nothing moved. turn the engine over 2 revolutions to make sure nothing is binding, and put the cover back on... and you'll be driving in no time.
*tip: do not pry on the cover for any reason, it will bend and leak oil forever if you do.
*tip: to get the one "impossible bolt on the mount, you may need to use the hole in the motor mount bracket on the passenger fender, it is a 18mm, you may have to lift engine up to align the socket.
*tip, while the timing chain is off and engine up, doing a water pump is only an extra 30minutes or so.
HP Tuners | Garrett T3/T04B | 2.5" Charge Pipes | 2.5" Downpipe | 650 Injectors | HO Manifold | Addco front/rear | Motor Mounts | HKS SSQV | Spec stage 3 | AEM UEGO Wideband | Team Green LSD | FMIC | 2.3 cams | 2.3 oil pump swap | 280WHP | Now ECOTECED
okay heres what i did, fist took out old cams and put the new ones in right. with the dowel pins stright up like when i took them off. i turned them just a bit to get my 8mm bolts in. tighten the bolts but didnt use lock tight so i might go and put some in. and ran the chain over everything. the crank has never moved from the spot where the two dots line up. i thought that was tdc? or do i have to move them now?
i thought oyu need ot remove the exhaust mani to get the water pump out? i have two 8mm bolts in the holes and there still a bit of play in between the two spockets
