Fresh rebuild timing question

[brynden29]

Sup guys,
I just gone done rebuilding my motor outside the car. I did the timing belt and followed the VFAQ procedures so I know it is right. I have a few questions:

1. I installed Fidanza cam gears and I am not sure they are lined up correctly. It looks like they have marks, but the intake "9 o'clock" mark is different than a stock cam gear. The stock gear matches the "3 o'clock" tooth from the exhaust cam with the "9 o'clock" tooth groove on the intake cam. The Fidanza's intake "9 o'clock" mark does not line up with a groove, but kind of on the side of a tooth. (I might need to take some pictures) My quesiton is, should the marks on the cam gears be lined up, or the teeth and grooves?

2. (More imporantly) I turned the crank to make sure that the #1 cylinder was at TDC and I am pretty sure the timing notch on the crank plate did not match to the timing mark on the front case. I turned the crank to make sure the timing mark matched up on the front case then did the belt. I think I might have put the timing plate on backwards. My question (obviously) is would the car start with the crank timing plate reversed? It seems to have a rough idle although I did drive it around the block and it seemed fine. Just wondering if anyone else had done this.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[steve]

Sup guys,
I just gone done rebuilding my motor outside the car. I did the timing belt and followed the VFAQ procedures so I know it is right. I have a few questions:

1. I installed Fidanza cam gears and I am not sure they are lined up correctly. It looks like they have marks, but the intake "9 o'clock" mark is different than a stock cam gear. The stock gear matches the "3 o'clock" tooth from the exhaust cam with the "9 o'clock" tooth groove on the intake cam. The Fidanza's intake "9 o'clock" mark does not line up with a groove, but kind of on the side of a tooth. (I might need to take some pictures) My quesiton is, should the marks on the cam gears be lined up, or the teeth and grooves?

Many aftermarket cam sprockets are poorly manufactured. The marks on opposite sides of the sprockets are not 180* apart and shouldn't both be on a tooth or groove on both sides. The mark should be on a tooth at 270* on the intake sprocket and a groove at almost 90* on the exhaust sprocket.

2. (More imporantly) I turned the crank to make sure that the #1 cylinder was at TDC and I am pretty sure the timing notch on the crank plate did not match to the timing mark on the front case. I turned the crank to make sure the timing mark matched up on the front case then did the belt. I think I might have put the timing plate on backwards. My question (obviously) is would the car start with the crank timing plate reversed? It seems to have a rough idle although I did drive it around the block and it seemed fine. Just wondering if anyone else had done this.

Thanks for the help guys.

How far off is the crank mark when the engine is at #1 piston TDC? The risk is that the valves and pistons try an occupy the same space at the same time when the belt timing is off.

 

[brynden29]

Many aftermarket cam sprockets are poorly manufactured. The marks on opposite sides of the sprockets are not 180* apart and shouldn't both be on a tooth or groove on both sides. The mark should be on a tooth at 270* on the intake sprocket and a groove at almost 90* on the exhaust sprocket.

I will line them up today when I get home and take a look. I am pretty sure I lined up a tooth on the intake side and a groove on the exhaust side with the dowels straight up.

How far off is the crank mark when the engine is at #1 piston TDC? The risk is that the valves and pistons try an occupy the same space at the same time when the belt timing is off.

I am not sure how far off, maybe a quarter of a turn. I did the belt and turned it over by hand many times, I even did the playdoh method of checking it and the valves and pistons never touched. I was very nervous starting it for the first time so I turned it over by hand a lot before starting. As well, I cranked it over with the MPI fuse out a lot before firing it up too.

I plan on taking it apart to verify, but if the problem is that the cam timing is off, I would prefer to not mess with the crank bolt.

 

[brynden29]

I just lined up the cam gears and the #1 cylinder is at TDC. (based on my magnet in the cylinder) The oil pump sprocket does not matter since I have eliminated the balance shafts.

So my timing should be correct based on my cam gears lining up and the #1 piston being at TDC, correct?

 

[brynden29]

I am going to pull the timing cover off and check everything. I will post the results in case anyone searchs for a similar issue.

 

[brassc2007]

did you make sure that the dowels for the cam gears where also in the up position you could be 180 off

 

[brynden29]

did you make sure that the dowels for the cam gears where also in the up position you could be 180 off

Yes, I did make sure of that. Thanks for the suggestion. At this point, I think the timing is correct, but I am going to take it all apart to check it.