Cam swap R16

[impinhigh]

Ok, you talked me into it!

I made arrangements to send my cam down to American Cams for his performance "street" grind but, have some hesitation about breaking down my motor. What does it take to get the cam out of a R16? What is the difficulty of this job and do I need any special tools?

I've got the engine out and on a stand now, I've never broken down the R16 only the U20. As you know I did a compression test before the pull and it's still pretty tight 157 across +\- 3 lbs and really don't want to mess with that.
Is pulling the cam a technical chore with the possibility of fubars?
I like to do some of my own work but, I hate to pay guys to fix my screw ups..my manual is pretty limited with views and narratives.

[spl310]

Well, I am sure that I will miss something as it has been a while, but this is what I recall.

Remove the pushrods - this can be done most easily by unbolting the rocker shaft assembly and then pulling them out. I highly recommend keeping them in order as metal parts wear to each other.

Drain the oil and remove the front pulley.

Rotate the engine so that it is upside down and secure. Unbolt the oil pan and the timing cover. Remove both.

Unbolt the timing chain tensioner and the cam gear - remove the entire timing assembly - this is a good thing to take a photograph of so that you can reorient the gears appropriately - not too awfully critical, but it helps.

With a wooden implement, push the lifters up into their bores - you can see them if you look inside the engine - rotating the cam one full rotation will help, but will likely will not move them fully up in the bores.

CAREFULLY remove the camshaft - you do NOT want to nick the bearings. They are not awfully expensive, but they rarely wear appreciably and they can be a pain to replace.

Pull the lifters out of the bores. You want to have these resurfaced at the same time...

Cover the whole mess with plastic or a lint free cloth until your refinished stuff arrives. Reverse the process - don't forget the tensioner gasket on reassembly.

Best of luck!

[impinhigh]

Sid,
You're the Man!
Started the job last night and found I do not have a socket large enough for the crank pully bolt. What size socket do I need?

Matt

[spl310]

Whew, that is a good question. I don't recall exactly, but think it is 1 1/2". I have a handfull of the monster sockets and one works - I just cannot recall which exactly. If you measure flat to flat, you should be able to go to Napa and buy the socket you need. It will likely be 3/4 drive, so you may want a breaker bar or a 1/2 to 3/4" adaptor. Use a block of wood wedged between a crank counterweight and the block to hold it steady while you undo the bolt.

Best of luck!

[DatsunBucky]

On mine, a 27mm 6pt socket fits quite well enough to do the job. Maybe a 26mm would work. 1 1/16 fits just a tad looser, but with 6pt, should still be OK. I used an inpact socket set to check. They're all 1/2" drive.

Block is 55xxx in a 67.5 1600 (doesn't match plate).

[impinhigh]

A 1 1/16" socket is a perfect fit. 26mm would be the same.

Matt