Guys, my opti crapped out and while i had almost entire front half of the engine off to get to the opti i decided to just do a cam swap since the car isng my daily driver.

Right now here is where the car stands:

• Intake removed
• Valve covers removed
• AIR injection fittings removed from manifolds
• radiator/condensor removed
• water pump removed
• balancer removed
• smog pump moved out of the way

Im guess that while the balancer is off, but the hub has yet to come off i probably dont want to rotate the engine right?

Also, i guess my plan was to perform the cam swap, button everything back up and do the valve train upgrade. Im just worried about getting the engine "out of sync" while the balancer and hub are off.

FYI: Im going with a cc503, and will probably upgrade to a 52-58mm TB and upraded valve train to support cam.

Any advice about how not to screw this up would be appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1025313...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1025313...n/photostream/

 

cam to crank relation is all that matters and you will have to set that when you slide the new crank in and then just put the hub on right before rotating the motor atall.

 

Your #1 cyl just needs to be TDC, when you stick the cam in.

 

I need to put the #1 piston at TDC? Hmm, if i've already taken the balancer off, i guess i could put the bolt back into the crank snout and rotate the engine so that #1 is at TDC.

Anyone else agree that #1 needs to be at TDC before remove the cam?

 

yes i agree! it just makes it easier to line up the dots on the timing chain. you can also tell by looking at the rockers. watch the #1 intake valve completely open, then once it closes give the crank another 1/4 turn.

or you can put the pulley back on and do it that way. but if the arrow is at the 12oclock position the engine will either be at #1 or #6 so you have to look at the rockers anyways


sorry for the rambling

 

Rambling accepted! If the balancer pully is off, but the hub is still on can i find TDC? Is there a marker on the hub that i can use without having to put the balancer pulley back on?

 

Look for the dot on the crank gear. Just worry about lining it up with the dot on the cam gear when you put the timing chain back on. No need to worry about anything right now.

 

As said, you cant really screw anything up because the crank gear is keyed! Just put the dot on the cam gear straight down, and the dot on crank gear up, facing eachother when you put it all back togheter.

 

Thanks