Help with cam timing
 

I have been trying to time my cams ,following Waynes book and the factory manuals and keep getting hung up at the end. The motor is a 2.2 but has high compression pistons and E cams per the numbers on them. I have chosen the 72/73 specs. All is well until I go to tighten the cam nut. With my friend doing the torque,I hold the cam,with the gauge still on,trying to keep the value the same.The cam invariably moves and the value changes.My question,if the cam and sprocket are pinned together does it matter that the value changes on the gauge? The motor spins freely after and checking the other side reveals the values are not the same. Please any advice with regards to techniques/experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
John

Turn the crank 720 degrees to bring the Z1 to center case line. You should get your reading that you set to.. You realize that when you lock the cam nuts you want to pull the cam against the direction of travel to lock the pin against the cogs. Thants the reading you want because that where the cam will always be located.
Bruce

Hey Bruce,
Yeah I am pulling against the direction of travel and still end up with the side to side values different.One thing I thought of ,when I change my(digital) gauge from side to side I have to turn the gauge and in doing so may be changing the depth of the gauge in the holder and possibe altering the reading. I dunno just thought maybe that could have an effect on the cam readings.
Thanks
John

John,
Each cam reading will be individual. Set the left cam to a high spec, 3.0 to 3.3, head close to 3.3. Say 3.20. Thats set, pinned.
Right side try to set 3.3, it comes in at 3.45, too much difference so pull the pin and back the cam so you can move the pin one hole. So now it comes in at 3.35, move the pin again and it comes in at 3.22. Youre on the money. be sure you back load against the direction of cam travel.
If you cant come close, remove the right chain drive from the cam and tensioner and turn it one cog on the chain, set the tensioner back up.Pin the cam and start over for the 3.3.
I personally back the crank backward so I dont have to keep running 720 degrees. Once I m on TDC I can adjust the numbers on the dial guage by turning the cam and repinning close to the spec I want.
Remember, you want to back load for your new spec reading.
Bruce

Thanks Bruce,
I will give it a try this week. Great forum and people!

Or you can do like I did and find someone with a second gauge setup. Bolt one on each side, set the cams to spec, rotate the motor a couple of times and keep checking.

i have read 2 things into what you are doing that either i am reading into it too much or you are doing something wrong.

first, you said, "With my friend doing the torque,I hold the cam,with the gauge still on,trying to keep the value the same. are you trying to tighten the nut without the cam moving? if so, dont worry about that. tighten the nut, then recheck as if you just put the gage on. spin the engine several times, and slowly bring it back to TDC, zero the gage, then turn another 360 to check. the dial on the gage should turn so you can zero it. i dont tighten the nut very tight until i have it right, then i check it again.

second, you said, "I have to turn the gauge and in doing so may be changing the depth of the gauge in the holder and possibe altering the reading". are you trying to move the gage and leave it set as it was for the other side? move the gage to #4, set 4 to TDC, put the gage on and zero it again and do as you did for #1. the position of the gage in the holder does not matter. dont forget, the gage will spin backwords, CCW, because the vavle is opening so read the gage in a CCW direction. the reason i am telling you this, is someone set mine 15 deg's advanced because they set the timing when the needle pointed to the .020 in the CW direction, not the CCW direction, which was really .080 of lift. the numbers in the CW direction are bold, the numbers in the CCW direction are lighter in color, maybe that had something to do with it.

my opinion, setting each side the same is more important than were you set them. (not saying just pick a setting and go for it) if you set one side on the advanced side of the spec, set the other side the same. if your spec is 3-5 mm and you can only get one side to 5mm then go back and set the other side to 5mm.

now that all is fixed on my car, i would like to go and try different cam settings, perhaps 5 deg advanced.