timeformiller44

hey, just put a set of comp cams in my car, timed it and its of just a little bit bc its hitting just a little..but compression is good and leak down test is good so nothing got bent so i want to re time the cams..and i went on crap diagrams and such..anyone have a REALLY good step by step on how to time with pictures and that.. so i can make it PERFECT.. it has 70K so i wonder if i should put new chains on it, because i hear maybe old ones can stretch a little and seeing as the cams are high lift it make be right timing, just hitting bc chains are stretched??

specs:
Gross Valve Lift: Intake/.550 Exhaust/.550

Cam Lobe Lift: Intake/.3000 Exhaust/.3000

ADV. DUR @ .050 Valve Lift Intake/270 Exhaust 274


please any good help would be appreciated!!

Sxynerd

1. Remove the 18mm bolt and washers from the crank.
2. Note the order and placement of the trigger wheel and gears. Slide the stock timing trigger wheel off of the crank.
3. Remove the timing chain from the passenger side cam sprocket and crank sprocket. The 96-98 motors have a two piece crank sprocket and the 99+ cars have a once piece crank sprocket like the one shown here (fig 8).
4. Remove the timing chain from the driver side cam sprocket and crank sprocket.
5. Before going any further, spin the cam to get a feel for how free it spins.
6. Pick a side to start with and grab your new cam for that side. Most will have a notation on the cam as to left or right side. Left means driver side and right means passenger side. Compare the lobes to the cam in the corresponding head to make sure it matches up. Cams are specific to each side, so if you put them in wrong there will be problems.
7. Once you have the correct cam, remove the 10mm bolts holding the cam caps in place. Make sure to keep the cam caps in the proper order so they go back on in the same place.
   ***NOTE*** The Windsor motors have individual cam caps (fig 9) on the head and Romeo motors have two large cam caps per head (fig 10).
8. With the caps removed, pull the cam out. Be careful - the cam lobes are sharp.
9. If you are reusing your old parts,remove the 18mm bolt from the front of the cam. This was loosened earlier and shouldn’t be hard to remove.
10. Slide the cam sprocket off (keep in mind which side faces forward) and the cam spacer as well.
11. Slide the cam spacer on to the front of the new cam, followed by the cam sprocket, cam washer and cam bolt. If you have a compressor, this is when you should impact the bolts on, however they can be tightened later.
12. Use cam lube on the bearing surfaces and lobes and place into the head. You can use oil in the cam journals as well.
13. With the cam in place, put the cam caps back in place and finger tighten the bolts.
14. Using the proper sequence tighten the bolts to 70 to 106 in-lbs. Once done, the cam should spin just as freely as it did before. If not, loosen up the caps and retighten. A common problem is over tightening these, so only torque down as specified.
15. Move to the other side and repeat steps 6 through 14.
16. Once you know you have no clearance issues, it’s time to put the cam followers back in. The back of the follow sits on the valve and the front on the lifter. Find a cam lobe that is at the base of its circle (shortest point) and slide the follower under it so that the rear is over the valve, the roller is under the cam lobe and the front of it is directly in front of the lifter. Now take a large screwdriver and positionthe flat head of it behind the lip on top of the follower and pull backwards using the cam lobe for leverage (fig 15). It will pop the follower back into place. Don’t worry about the cam lobe surface it is very strong and will not scratch. Do this for all followers and make sure to rotate the motor as you go so you can access each one while the base circle is facing down.
17. Take one of the timing chains and lay it on a clean surface with it stretched out and use a grease pen to mark the two end links that are facing outwards. Repeat this on the other chain (fig 11).
18. Slide the crank gear (or gears if you have a 96-98 car) on the crank. Put the 18mm bolt and washers back in the front of the crank. Looking at the crank gear, find the mark (fig 12) and turn the crank so that it is in the 6 o’clock position. This is your first alignment mark.
19. Now turn the passenger side cam until the alignment mark is perpindicular to the head surface (the alignment mark is a circular dimple along the outer ridge) (fig 13). Put the chain on the rear crank gear, aligning the mark on one end of the chain to the rear crank gear alignment mark and the mark on the other end of the chain to the cam alignment mark. The right side of the chain should be tight when placing the chain. You will need to use a wrench to rotate the cam slightly when aligning the marks. When you are done, you should have both of the alignment marks matched up to the marks you made with the grease pen.
    
    
    **Also refer to Keith Mruk’s cam timing article for more detailed information.
    
    
    
20. Do the same thing on the driver side cam, except this time the bottom of the chain will go on the front of the crank sprocket. Once complete, it should look like this (fig 16).
21. Now you are ready for your chain tensioners. To compress them, you must push down on the hydraulic part of it and the trigger on the top right next to it. As it bleeds down, you will see the teeth unlocking. Using a small allen key, push these teeth over so that it compresses completely. When it does compress completely, you will use that same allen key to lock the tensioner in the compressed position by putting it into the small hole at the bottom of the front face of the tensioner (fig 14). This will keep it compressed until you have it bolted in. Do this for both tensioner's.
22. Slide the driver side curved timing chain guide (fig 5) back into the place, then bolt in the left chain tensioner using the (2) 10mm bolts and tighten to 15-22 ft-lbs. Once it is in place, pull the allen key out and it will automatically put tension against the chain.
23. Slide the passenger side curved timing chain guide back into place, then bolt in the right chain tensioner using the (2) 10mm bolts and tighten to 15-22 ft-lbs. Once it is in place, pull the allen key out and it will automatically put tension against the chain.
24. Using a long breaker bar, spin the motor over slowly. If you get any resistance, stop and check your work. You might have piston to valve clearance or other issues like the alignment marks are off.

Sxynerd

Im doing the same thing right now, lol.

timeformiller44

but is it possible to have a chain issue as well?

Sxynerd

I hear mixed feeling about this all the time... My engine had 30k so I didn't. (after I inspected it of course) I don't see a real need to change your chains unless you have a high mileage engine but it's going to be a toss of of opinions. It's always easier to spend other peoples money so consider the source on a lot of the answers you'll get.

If it's worth it to you to spend the extra $$ for piece of mind then do it. If not and the chains look good then I wouldn't worry about it.

MikeInCape

I would definitely change your timing chain/set, with your money . Get a nice one.


(I would with my money too for good measure if I had the cash)

timeformiller44

anyone else got any other input that may help?