Cam by a hair
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 921
Likes: 57
From: Muskoka Ontario
Cam by a hair
Got the block ready to pull the cam and as per my prior research the motor must be tilted. Has anyone ever notched the cross member ???
I guess the motor mounts bolts just have to be loosened to get the cam out. Also is the oil pan gasket supposed to be one continuous piece or is it cut.
Thanks
Fred
I guess the motor mounts bolts just have to be loosened to get the cam out. Also is the oil pan gasket supposed to be one continuous piece or is it cut.
Thanks
Fred
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Why do you want to tilt the block? You aren't going to try to remove the camshaft from the crankshafr main journals, are you? The camshaft should be nowhere near the crossmember. Yes. The oil pan IS one piece. Why?
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 8,683
Likes: 6
From: Phoenix AZ
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
Why do you want to tilt the block? You aren't going to try to remove the camshaft from the crankshafr main journals, are you? The camshaft should be nowhere near the crossmember. Yes. The oil pan IS one piece. Why?
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Racer
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
From: DFW TX
[QUOTE=fredk]Got the block ready to pull the cam and as per my prior research the motor must be tilted. Has anyone ever notched the cross member ???
I guess the motor mounts bolts just have to be loosened to get the cam out. Also is the oil pan gasket supposed to be one continuous piece or is it cut.
Thanks
I would not notch the cross member, it would take more than just notching it a hair.
When I did my cam change I was pulling the trans at the same time, I just lowered the trans with a jack before removing it and the cam came right out. Most just loosen the motor mounts. Have fun!
If anyone would like to see a pic of the cam hitting the cross member, I can e-mail you one so you can post it.
I guess the motor mounts bolts just have to be loosened to get the cam out. Also is the oil pan gasket supposed to be one continuous piece or is it cut.
Thanks
I would not notch the cross member, it would take more than just notching it a hair.
When I did my cam change I was pulling the trans at the same time, I just lowered the trans with a jack before removing it and the cam came right out. Most just loosen the motor mounts. Have fun!
If anyone would like to see a pic of the cam hitting the cross member, I can e-mail you one so you can post it.
Last edited by vetster86; Nov 22, 2005 at 08:36 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
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From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by fredk
Also is the oil pan gasket supposed to be one continuous piece or is it cut.
Thanks
Fred
Thanks
Fred
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Pro
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 641
Likes: 3
From: Long Island NY
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
Why do you want to tilt the block? You aren't going to try to remove the camshaft from the crankshafr main journals, are you? The camshaft should be nowhere near the crossmember. Yes. The oil pan IS one piece. Why?
RACE ON!!!
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,699
Likes: 2
From: The Black Hole LA
Just had to pull my cam back out after installing the engine in my '90. I had to lift the engine slightly to get the cam to clear the front crossbar. All I did is take the bolt out of the drivers side motor mount and lift with a cherry picker on that side bolted to one of the accesory bolt holes and the engine rotated on the other side's engine mount bolt. I also had to tilt the radiator out of the way.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,699
Likes: 2
From: The Black Hole LA
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
I missed the word "gasket" the first time. Yes, it IS supposed to be one piece. I still don't make any sense out of the rest, however.
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
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From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by hz900
He is pulling the cam and he is asking about the gasket that goes at the bottom of the timing cover I would assume.
Originally Posted by hz900
Also I think if memory serves me correct you have an '84, and I don't know about them, but on my '90 there is a square piece of the frame that runs between the frame rails right in front of the water pump. When you try to pull the cam, it hits this piece of the frame.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,699
Likes: 2
From: The Black Hole LA
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
You are right. I have an '84. The cross member is down below the vibration damper. An 8" damper will hit on the front crossmember. That puts it well below the camshaft. I didn't realize that C4 frames varied that much. Thanks.
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Racer
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 292
Likes: 0
From: Vienna VA
Originally Posted by Hotred94
Unscrew the single nut on the bottom of each motor mount. Put a board under the oil pan. Jack the engine to clear the cross member. It only needs about 3/4 of an inch to clear.
Good luck
Good luck
Been awhile...on my 90, I belive that I loosened only one motor mount bolt and jacked up the engine a small amount (which tilts it to the side). It was very easy.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
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From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by hz900
Just to clarify, I think you are refering to the engine crossmember or cradle as some call it.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 9,715
Likes: 27
From: Kempner Texas
So seems that the frames DO vary quite a bit over the years. I recall reading several posts in the past where posters have had to jack the engine for the needed clearance. In my case, the 86 doesn't require the engine to be raised to remove the cam.
Just another reason why it's so important to include the year of the car in the initial post. That'll save a lot of confusion.
Jake
Just another reason why it's so important to include the year of the car in the initial post. That'll save a lot of confusion.
Jake
Last edited by JAKE; Nov 23, 2005 at 02:52 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
From: Elgin Minnesota
85 cam removal
did not need to lift motor on mine, loosened oil pan bolts, lowered pan in front slightly all came apart easily w/only one hitch-- balancer puller hitting power steering line , loosened and removed, the rest was a piece of cake!
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
From: fl
I Just notched mine about a quarter of an inch last week while taking out the old cam and installing the new one......I guess I could have just lifted the motor a bit, but since im sure this wont be the last cam this motor sees, I did it to make cam swaps a little easier in the future......on top of that , when I went to degree the cam, and install the degree wheel on the crank, I also had to slot the bottom section directly under where the balancer would go to give it the needed clearance......the smallest degree wheel I found was a comp cam model (9in) in diameter, and it still needed to be slotted 
.....
.....
Last edited by 95NOSvette; Nov 23, 2005 at 10:51 PM.
Racer
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
From: DFW TX
[QUOTE=JAKE]So seems that the frames DO vary quite a bit over the years. I recall reading several posts in the past where posters have had to jack the engine for the needed clearance. In my case, the 86 doesn't require the engine to be raised to remove the cam.
Just another reason why it's so important to include the year of the car in the initial post. That'll save a lot of confusion.
Hello Jake,
It must very between production runs, mine is a late 86 vert I had to tilt the motor to get the cam out.
Just another reason why it's so important to include the year of the car in the initial post. That'll save a lot of confusion.
Hello Jake,
It must very between production runs, mine is a late 86 vert I had to tilt the motor to get the cam out.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 921
Likes: 57
From: Muskoka Ontario
Well I got my old cam out and my ZZ9 in. After loosening the motor mounts and jacking the motor up it was a piece of cake. I got in on the group purchase from Exotic Muscle for headers so I had to take my 2 cats off, what a beeeatch !!!! I had to cut one of the cat mounts because there was no way you could get a wrench on it. Well I guess it's time to start putting her back together, I hope I remember where everthing goes.
Fred
Fred