Day 1 Here

Day 2 Here

I'm all done with Day 3 and I spent a good part of the afternoon making good progress. Here is where we left off.



As you can see the cam cover is off. After this photo, I used a pen, to mark the sprockets and chain to make sure they get installed correctly later.

The front cylinder is currently at TDC so the cam and crankshaft sprocket dots line up. You can also see the line on the cam plate between the gears showing proper alignment.

Moving on, I inserted the crankshaft/camshaft sprocket locking tool and removed the bolts on each sprocket. Again, I placed everything in plastic bags and marked them so there is no confusion later.




Here you can see the sprockets and chain tensioner removed.



On the right cam you can see the snapclip and washer which we will remove later. On the left the stock cam spacer is still on. You need to keep this spacer, which I will explain later. There is a thin film of oil under the spacer so it might be stuck until you pull the cams out. Don't worry about this.

Now it is time to remove the cam support plate. Go ahead and remove the cam plate bolts in the sequence the service manual outlines. Do the same for the four oil pump bolts in the middle. Don't forget to bag and tag the bolts. I will sound like a broken record in this post - Follow the procedures in the service manual.

The cam support plate pulled right off for me. Make sure you have those clips on the lifters so they don't slide down into the cam chest. One of my lifters came loose and slid part way down, but it is not a big deal. Just slide it back up and reclip.

With the cam support plate removed, here is what you will see.



You can now see the oil pump, two o-rings, and the old INA bearings. Remove the two o-rings and discard. I also removed the oil pump for easier removal of the bearings. The oil pump slides into an o-ring which you cannot see here. The oil pump pulls right out. Discard the old o-ring and replace.

Now lets replace those bearings. There are a number of different tools on the market for bearing removal. George's Garage has a bearing removal and installation kit. It looks real good but it is fairly expensive. I went with Gary Beatty's bearing removal and installation kit which was just over $90 shipped. Here is the tool setup to remove a bearing.



The tool slides inside the bearing. You slide a rod through a hallow shaft to keep the tool engaged. You need one wrench to hold the flats on the end of the tool, and a second wrench to rotate the 3/4 inch nut. The bearing comes out with reasonable ease.

I think the bearing replacement is an extremely important part of this job and should not be skipped. Of course that is just my opinion, so to make your decision, I will let this picture do the talking.




Installing the bearings is very easy. Use some 20W50 oil to clean and lubricate the bearings. I used some leftover oil from my last oil change. What kind of oil do you use?

Also, I used plenty of Assembly Lube. I think mine is from Lucas. A word of caution to those who are less mechanical. You cannot use too much oil or lube when assembling engine parts. If you use too little oil or lube, you will be FUBAR when you start up.

Here are a few pictures showing the bearing install part of the tool.




When you install the bearing make sure the stamped writing on it's front edge faces toward you, not to the back.

The bearing fits perfectly on the pilot.



The cylinder under my thumb is a bearing removal cup. When you remove the bearing, it is backed out into the cup. When you install the bearing the cup guides the bearing in straight. You can slide the cup back a little so you can align the bearing with the bore



The pilot screws on to a shaft. All you need to do is tap the bearing in with a rubber mallet. You don't need to tap hard. Use plenty of lube and the bearings go right in.

A final note on Gary Beatty's tool. While it is not as elaborate as the HD or Georges Garage version, both of which have support plates, Gary's setup is an excellent economical tool for the job. If you want to order from him, his email address is beattygw@sbcglobal.net .

Now that the bearings are in, lets reinstall the oil pump. Although it is not required, I removed all the rotors from the oil pump, inspected them, oiled and lubed, and put everything back together. In the manual the oil pump looked a little complicated, but actually it is very easy to reassemble. If you follow the diagrams in the service manual, reassembly takes less than two minutes.

When you install the oil pump, you need to make absolutely positively sure the back of the pump seats in the o-ring. When you push the oil pump you can feel it seating. Just be careful here because if you don't get everything right, oil will sump into the cam chest and you will be taking everything apart later.

The cam plate is very easy to disassemble. Just remove the secondary cam chain tensioner, remove the snapclip, and pull the cams out of the plate. Earlier models may not be this easy. Please check your service manual. See store for details.



After I cleaned up the cam support plate, I unpackaged my new Woods TW6-6 cams.



Stock cams are on top and the Woods cams are on the bottom. Check out the difference.

Installing the cams and chain was not that hard. I lined up the dots on the cams and put the chain on. You don't need one of those cam assembly tool bases. I used the cam support plate to help keep things situated. It took me two tries to get the cams lined up right. All told, the process took less than ten minutes. Don't forget to use lots of assembly lube before inserting the cams.

Install the secondary cam tensioner. Torque to 50 in/lbs, then to 100 in/lbs. I used blue Loctite.

Here they are installed in the cam support plate.



Flip the cam plate over and install the stock cam spacers. Install the snap clip on the right. Make sure the snap clip is fully seated in the groove.

Slather the cams and cam plate with assembly lube one last time.

Now you are ready to install the cam plate into the cam chest. This is a non-event. Because you used all that lube everything slides right in. Install the cam plate bolts in the sequence outlined in the service manual. 50 in/lb then 100 in/lb.

Here it is. Note the oil pump bolts are not installed yet.



Insert all four bolts into the oil pump but do not snug. Rotate the engine by turning the rear wheel in sixth gear. Gradually snug the top right and bottom left bolts. This centers the oil pump. You will see a small amount of oil drip out of the cam chest so have rag or oil drain pan ready.

Torque in sequence outlined in service manual. 40-45 in/lbs then to 90-120 in/lbs.



Ensure your cam alignment dots are facing each other like above. Use a straight edge to verify they are aligned.

Install cam and crank sprockets, but not the chain.



This next step is not one that I would skip. Because we swapped out the cams the cam sprocket might not be totally even with the smaller crank sprocket. This will cause the chain to be misaligned.

Use a straight edge to see whether there is any spacing issues.

Mine has an issue. It is a small .01 gap, and it has to be fixed. Use a feeler gauge to measure between the straight edge and sprocket to determine the gap. You can buy a feeler gauge for $3 at any automotive store. Remove the large cam sprocket and the stock spacer.

I recommend bringing the stock spacer to the dealership just verify you are getting the right thickness on the spacer. For some reason I had expected my stock spacer to be .100 not .110. If you can't read the print, having the stock spacer will be handy.





My stock cam spacer's writing could still be read - .110. I need a .120 spacer. A quick drive down to the dealer and $5 later...



Perfect alignment. Now reinstall the sprockets with the chain. Torque according to the process in the service manual.

Tighten cam and crank bolts (with red Loctite) to 15 ft/lbs. Loosen 360 degrees. Final on cam is 34 ft/lbs. Final on crank is 24 ft/lbs. Install cam chain tensioner to 50 in/lbs then 100 in/lbs.



Everything is together and aligned correctly.

Today I spent three and half hours on the project. I am now seven hours into the project. This would probably go faster without taking pictures and the kids bugging me every five minutes.

So far I have to say this project is a lot easier than I anticipated. As I mentioned my goal was to do a little bit at a time and not try to race through this. Because of that I have to say this project has been quite enjoyable so far.

In the next episode, I will install my tapered quick install push rods. It will be interesting to see how quick, quick install really is.

When I finish this project, I will put everything into one thread, probably with a few edits. Thanks again for all the replies and PM's. I am surprised how much interest there has been.

 

Nice work. I'm enjoying your progress reports.

A little tip for the pushrods. Run the adjustment rod down just enough to get the 5/16 wrench on it after you feed it thru the tube and have the top in place use the small wrench to hold it while you turn the top half of the PR with you fingers. As the rod extends run the lock nut up every so often.

Once I had the zero play set I used a couple of spring loaded clothes pins to hold the tubes up and out of the way. That will free up both hands while you do the two and a half turn adjustment.

My lifters took about 25 minutes for each set to bleed down so I could turn them with my fingers. I did the front first after setting it to TDC.

 

Again, a wonderful contribution to the forum. Thanks

 

Thanks for the series. I'm going to be doing my own first cam swap out, and your writeups will definitely help!

 

Great write-up Atrain. You're right about it being an enjoyable job. Almost as much fun as starting it up when you're done!

 

Great thread; excellent write-up and pictures. Probably the best threads I've read/seen in the past several months.

Thanks for taking the time to document the project so comprehensively.

 

Well done. It is nice to read a thread that takes some thought. This is something we can all do with a little help from our friends. Reminds me of an old saying "there is more than one way to skin a cat" There is a hundred ways to do this job and come to the same end result. I enjoy these reads to see what small details I can learn.

thanks, now get back to work!
I am just killing time till i know the kids are asleep if ya know what I mean.

 

........ just what I was thinkin' !

 

Thank you for taking the time to document this install... I am learning alot and appreciate you letting me look over your shoulder !

 

This is the best "how to swap cams thread" i've seen...well done.