fitting cam

[KEV 5 GT]

is it possible to fit a cam without taking the head off if the engine is out ?

[Alex]

Not really as the followers will drop. I have heard people have managed to do it, possibly with magnets. To be honest if the engine is out just whip the head off, it's easy enough to do. :)

[KEV 5 GT]

will it need skimming tho if I take the head off as ive herd they can warp

[R5MJH]

shouldnt do as long as its not over heated

[KEV 5 GT]

is there a thread on an engine rebuild the does and don't,s ect ?

[Goobie]

As you said the engine is out of the car. You could possibly if the block is bolted to an rotating engine stand, rocker cover off, loosen the rocker nuts to the push rods, take em out, then turn the whole engine upside down so the cam followers stay in.

Purely at own risk tho, don't blame me if you try this and it doesn't go how you want. :laugh:

[Trevhib]

is there a thread on an engine rebuild the does and don't,s ect ?

I just had a look through the articles section. There is nothing (AFAIK) that covers an a full rebuild. Although some things are taken in isolation (like cam removal/replacement/timing, carb rebuild and setup, oil pump info, clutch replacement, ancillary replacement etc).

Maybe people could put their block/head rebuild thoughts in this thread and the list can be collated, put in order and made into an article??

Here are one or two:

- make a note of rod cap and bolt positions and make sure they go back in the same positions (whether you have new bearings or not).
- re-torque the head bolts in the pattern shown in Haynes and then again at the interval following the rebuild
- wipe the liner bores with oil when rebuilding/refitting pistons
- make sure the rings are staggered correctly when you refit them
- when rebuilt, remove the king lead and turn the engine over on the ignition until oil pressure comes up

Etc.

[Alex]

Just follow the Haynes :)

[Trevhib]

Yes indeed :D :agree:

Tbf to ol' Trev though, I think there are a ton of little tips that aren't in Haynes that would be useful to have alongside :coffee:

[KEV 5 GT]

that's true there is some things out there that when people do a rebuild the end up doing some mistakes that others have done before and then had to strip down again....I was thinking of leaving the pistons and liners in and just taking the head off see whats what first and just put a piper 285 in there is there a way to check if bottom end is good and oil pump ?

[Alex]

Bottom end would be a case of taking the big end and main bearing caps off and checking the bearings. The oil pump you can take off and strip down. If there's any scoring or if it's worn out of tolerance you can fit a refurb kit.

One thing I would always stress when stripping an engine down is make sure everything is totally clean before you reassemble.