I was trying to pull the cam dowel out and in the process it broke off. There is still some exposed, but not enough to get a good hold of. My question is: is the cam dowel actually needed? Since I have a '94, the opti runs off the gear not the dowel. As long as I put the cam in the correct orientation, won't the 3 bolts on the cam be fine. Aren't these what mainly hold the gear to the cam anyways, not the dowel?

 

TTT, I'm ready to put the cam in now. Just need to know if I need to attempt to drill out the dowel pin and put another in or just use it how it is.

 

The Opti on a 94 does run off the dowel pin. You must have the pin in the cam to drive the opti. The Optispark in a 94 has no provision to be gear driven. I hope you get a chance to read this before installing the cam.

I would take the cam to a machine shop to have the dowel replaced. They have the tools to do the job right without damaging the cam. Make sure the cam dowel is set to the correct length for a 94 when having it installed. Do a search on CAM Dowels and you should find everything you need on dowel lengths.

Good Luck

 

Not to change the suubject, but does anyone know what too machinists use to pull that dowel. I want one.

 

In the unvented Opti (93/94 cars), the dowel pin only engages the cam sprocket. It does not drive the Opti. The Opti is drive by a splined shaft, that engages splines in the center of the cam sprocket, and the Opti.

Courtesy of Shoebox:
http://shbox.com/1/93-94_opti.jpg

 

Oops, you mean does not (like Injuneer said).

If it was me, I would feel better with a good dowel pin in there.

A slide hammer with a chuck to grab the pin would be a good tool to remove a dowel pin.

 

In something closer to an ideal situation, that tool could be used. In his/this case, don't see how there is enuf of the original dowel remaining, to grab onto. Time for a welder.

 

No, I did not mean that for the broken pin situation. It was for the other question about removal.

 

Thats what I was thinking. now I just have to find a chuck I can thread on my slide hammer

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna go ahead and put it in how it is right now. There is still a little left of the pin so that it goes into the cam gear a little. (unfortunately not enough to grab onto though). If I had the time or the money I'd take it into the machine shop, but since I'm starting school again tomorrow, I just don't have the time to be running around to a machine shop.

 

Let us know if everything turns out ok.