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Fast cam install

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91-gsx

15+ Year Contributor
932
10
Mar 31, 2005
San Jose, California
Anybody know were they have pictures and instructions about installing an after market cam quickly and easily without re-timing the car? I have searched the vfaq, but they only have 1 link that doesn't work.
Thanks for the help
 
You have to be super careful about doing this one! It is Possible. Start out by removing your valve cover, and upper timing belt cover. Rotate your engine over to TDC so the crank and the two cam pins are pointed up. Next, break the two cam bolts loose by using a large wrench to hold the cam and a long prybar w/ socket to break the nuts loose. Next, mark the t-belt and cams with white out, and use 2 zip ties on each gear to secure the belt from moving. Now you'll need the long threaded bolt, or tensioner tool to apply pressure on the hydraulic tensioner. Insert the tool into the right side of the lower timing cover where the rubber plug is. You should be able to screw it in to where the pressure is relieved from the timing belt. Next, you need to be VERY CAREFUL, lift up on the camgears while you pull them away from the cams. Use a bungee cord, or another zip tie or some something to tie them off tight! Don't let the belt lose tension. Once the gears are off, you can remove the cams by loosening the cam towers from the outside in. Reverse the process and torque things down accordingly. Once you get the gears back on, and everything is back together, (tensioner tool removed) MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TIMING MARKS LINE UP AGAIN!!! Rotate the motor over by hand and double check your marks. If they don't line up. DO NOT START YOUR ENGINE. You'll have to reset your timing belt. If all goes well, you should be able to change your cams out in a couple of hours! Good Luck!:rocks:
 
Setting the timing isn't hard anyway, and you should be able to do it if you expect to change your cams yourself anyway. It also seems harder to try and keep the timing belt attached to the cam gears without slipping off any of the other pulleys than to just take the whole thing off. I like to take my time and be careful when setting timing and speed up the process in other areas by using an air ratchet to remove/replace all the bolts faster.

You guys are right, maybe reseting the timing would be easier. That is the way I put the timing belt back on when I changed my valve seals. All this done along with a t3 setup with just a craftsman 195pc tool set and 2 torque wrenches. Let my assure you guys, I am not always lazy. Just wanted to see if the fast way was worth trying. If it does not line up, then I will just redo the timing. With a few spins of the engine from the crank shaft, you can tell if the timing is lined up.
Thanks for the help guys, now I need to get off my ass and install them as they have been sitting in my garage for 6 months now.
 
Fast cam install is pretty easy, though I would hardly call it fast. I'd call it "painless" maybe. Just follow RRE's instructions. Zipp tying the cam gears to the timing belt and doing one cam at a time I had no problems doing mine.
 
What did you guys do about the tensioner part. I do not have the mitsubishi tool to take the tension off of the belt. Is that what you guys used? I guess I could always take the tensioner off, but I would prefer to get the tool. Where did you guys get it, any picture of it?
Thanks for the help
 
RRE Tension tool consists of the following:

M8-1.25 threaded rod 7.75" in length.
M8-1.25 flanged nut welded (JB welded or double nutted would work also) onto end of rod to allow rotation of entire assembly.
Grind/smooth down the tip to a length of .25" in the shape of a bull nose or "bullet" shape.

Final shape should look just like a very very long machine screw/bolt with a radiused/smoothed tip.

Go to ACE hardware or Pep Boys and everything to build one should be available for $10 or less.

Hardest part of the cam install is breaking the cam gear off the cam itself. I used a breaker bar cause the clearance wasn't there to use an impact gun with the cams still in the car. It feels like your gonna break the cam in half when you do it but you won't. I'd probably do this in a heated garage otherwise you just might break something. With an impact gun and the entire cam assembly off the car it might be alot easier to pull the cam gear off.

The rest is just labor to take all the cam journals off and following the bolt down sequence & torque settings. Do yourself a favor and buy a replacement valve cover gasket/half moon plug set from the dealer along with some grey silicone for the half moon plug. Pretty easy actually, just takes time cause of all the bolts involved.

Follow RRE's instructions to the letter and you won't have a problem.
 
The first time I ever did the "fast cam swap" we were putting 272's into my buddy's 2G. The project went FLAWLESS until he tried turning the motor over by using the exhaust cam!

It jumped 3 teeth because the exhaust cam is AFTER the tensioner. We ended up having to pull the cover and do a complete service, but it was actually a good thing because when we took the timing cover off this is what we found:

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The car had been running for god knows how long with a broken balance belt!

This is proof that some mistakes happen for a reason! But I'm sure my buddy has learned to never attempt to rotate the engine over using the cams again.
 
pep boys doesnt sell m8 x 1.25 that long.....i work here at the supercenter in seattle..other then that rre was great walk through even with no pics.....i was goin to make a video ### i just did mine and swapped 272s...like everyone said make sure everything lined up..NOT FOR THE TIMID AT HEART
 
Now by no means do I recommend this, but you can even pull the cams without taking the tension off the belt. LOL
 
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