81 camshaft needs replacing please help!!!!
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 165
Likes: 31
From: space coast florida
ignition timing
One thing I didn't see in the advice here is the fact that when you pull the distributor cap off the distributor you need to note where the rotor button is and what cylinder it's pointing to on your distributor cap. Note the wire and which spark plug that it goes to and then when you put it back together and get the camshaft in their aligned properly at top dead center make sure that your distributor is placed with the rotor in the same position that it was when you took it out. If not the engine will be out of ignition time and you may have a hell of a time trying to figure out where it should be. if you don't get it back in there correctly it can be anywhere from one to several teeth off on the distributor gear and won't start and you may Chase your tail for quite a while before you trace it down. Take a picture of it with your cell phone so that you can refer to it later do this before you pull the distributor out.
Last edited by squared; Dec 13, 2018 at 03:32 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 165
Likes: 31
From: space coast florida
oil pump alignment
One more thing the distributor drives the oil pump which is down in your pan you'll see at the bottom of the distributor that it's got a pin in it, if I recall correctly, that indexes on your oil pump shaft. If that's not aligned the distributor won't drop down in there all the way this also goes back to having it in the right position when you put the distributor back in the block if it's not in the right position then you can rotate the oil pump with a long screwdriver by sticking it down in the hole there and just rotating the pump to the right spot.
Last edited by squared; Dec 13, 2018 at 03:37 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,306
Likes: 226
From: PA
I'm starting to thing this was a quality control issue, some good lots of metal, some bad, or some good outsourcing, some bad, etc. I have 90,000 miles on my '80 L82 engine without any problems. And being as I was 21 in 1980 when I bought it, I was not kind to it driving wise.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,226
Likes: 643
From: Orange County Ca
It's possible you have collapsed lifters and not a bad camshaft. Take the intake off. Crank the motor over with the starter look at the lifters going up and down. If they are all moving the same amount, and the pushrods going down inside the lifter instead of going up with the lifter it's the lift or not the cam. and the intake has to come off anyway. Whether you're changing lifters or changing the camshaft. Be sure you're taking out bad parts.
I once had a stuck valve on a Dodge. Similar symptoms. A few wacks with a rubber mallet on the top of the valve spring and squirting Kroil (super break free oil) down the valve stem fixed it.
If you want to fix it your self, buy a rebuilding book for a sbc. There are numerous ones around. Research this and get the one that is most detailed.
It's not rocket science, but there are a few tricks.
