I am having a heck of a time figuring out how to get my cams put into the new motor. I'm following THIS WRITE-UP for putting the new block together. I am at the step of installing the cams but it is very vague. I have the crank sprocket dimple lined up with the notch in the oil pump. I assumed I would be able to line up the notches in the cam gears with the dimples in the timing belt back cover but I was proven false in my attempts. What orientation should the lobes on the cams be set to? There are 3 different ways for each cam to be installed and I have no idea what the correct way is. I'm hoping to get these installed tonight. Any help would be appreciated.
I could have sworn they only go in one way.. Here is the diagram from the FSM: http://300zx-twinturbo.com/s.manual/em/035.gif
Should line them up with the dimples on rear timing cover and notches on the sprockets. If you can't then you're doing it wrong It will want to jump to one side due to valve springs, but you can get it pretty close.
I managed to get them in. They are off by about a quarter turn but I'll just tweak them whenever I go to put on the timing belt. I won't be able to make use of the dimples in the rear belt cover until it comes time for the belt anyway. For now, I just used the indented holes on the heads themselves as the manual calls for. Everything is torqued to spec now. Thanks for the help!
^^^2nd they only fit in one way..as all the valves are closed.. make sure all the cam brackets are where they came from and the right way around..they are stamped intake I and exhaust E double check they are correct or the camshaft wont spin.. ensure the bottom end is allighned at #1 TDC, you can rotate the cam gears enough to pretty much line the dimples with the markings on the backing plate, however these are only a "GUIDE" and may have been moved etc, when rotating the cams you will feel resistance doing this as you will be fighting against the valve springs and openening those particular valves, BE CAREFULL as once lined up the cams will want to rotate back closed so a little knock and they will slam shut( NOT BEST as the VG30 is an inteference motor) good idea if you have a friend that can help with this by holding the cam gear in its place while installing the timing belt to stop them slamming shut.. it is essential to ensure the timing belt is facing the right way and installed correctly..(now heres where you see the backing plate markings are just a guide) the timing belt will have markings on it that have to line up with the dimples on the cam gears.. i started with the 1 on the crank sprocket and worked my way around anti clockwise.(a friend helping makes it a million times easier) once the markings are lined up exactly with the dimples on the cam gears., you can double check by counting the number of teeth between the markings( can be found in Tech Section) then continue with timing belt instalation process... blah blah hope this helps a little scotty
^^Yeah, from this point on (at least regarding cams and belts) it should be exactly like when I did my 120k. I know all too well about counting teeth and holding gears still. lol. Thanks for all the help!
Cable ties make it easy to lock the cam gears in place for fitting the timing belt without fighting the spring. I think Wizard used to have photo showing this.
