I have a 98 1/2 24 valve and want to self install a helix 2 cam. I,m very mechanically inclined and have rebuilt several small block gassers . I need to know the best way to stab the cam without damaging the cam or bearings. Is it a one man job or do two have to ballance the cam? Do you have to lift the whole assembly and tilt backward holding the cam gear? I would feel better knowing the exact process to do it right!!
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Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Cam install
- Thread starter ESwartzer
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The only replaceable bushing is in the front of the block, the rest were cast as part of the block itself.
Godspeed,
Trent
Godspeed,
Trent
I have a 01 that is stock and I just got a helix 2 to put in it but I am going to get the springs and do them at the same time to, has far as the cam install it is pretty straight forward, I do not believe that there is bearings to worry about just the lifters you just don't what to drop one of those suckers.
P. S. ESwartzer are you going to change out your lifters at the same time when you do the cam swap, or are you going to leave the old one in.
P. S. ESwartzer are you going to change out your lifters at the same time when you do the cam swap, or are you going to leave the old one in.
Just slide it in and slide it out.
Maybe my home video will help. Doing the KDP repair is very similar to doing a cam swap, except that you don't have to take off teh injection pump and power steering pump.
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Merrick
Maybe my home video will help. Doing the KDP repair is very similar to doing a cam swap, except that you don't have to take off teh injection pump and power steering pump.
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Merrick
Wow! That was the most informative video I have seen on front end work ! Thanks Merrick! You show that although its a long process its actually very doable if you take your time and think through the process. You also reminded me of the infamous dowell pin that i will adress when Im in there! Do you have any advice on changing lifters? Ive read other posts and know about the dowels and all . but Im a little unclear as how to fish the lifters into place? Also is it easier to do lifters with the head removed or on? I will be pulling the head anyway to do a valve regrind. .
Thanks a bunch! I recorded it kinda half joking around with my little brother, so I'm talking with some of our "funny" grammer. In the begining of the video I ask him "You has teh records?" (no typos there, that's how I said it. We joke around like that. . )
R&R'ing the lifters is a long stressful process, much easier without the head on. So, do it with the head off.
If you can, I'd stay with the OE tappets, but if you have alot of miles, then they should be replaced with the cam. (I'm not sure if the helix cam mandates you replace the tappets or not... . )
Just use some wire and cut the dowels you used to hold the lifters up into about a 3/4" or 1" section, where it's tapered off, and drill a 1/16" or so hole through the dowel and run the wire through the dowel. (If the dowel is not cut short enough, it will be very hard to "fish" the tappet back up into the correct hole in the block.
What you are looking for is a little stopper looking thing plugged into the tappet and about 12" of wire extending from that.
Use some metal fingers, I'm not sure what they are really called, but they are about 30" long, kinda like a tightly wound spring with a hard metal rod in the middle. When you press the little buttton on one end three little fingers extend and can "grab" something, when you realease the button, the fingers retract and pinch onto whatever you are trying to hold onto. I call it a "thing longer" (from a TV Cartoon called Futurama), but I don't know the proper name for it.
TO get the OE tappets out:
Take a 2. 5" pipe and cut it in half. It has to be thin wall. A PVC pipe will not work, the walls are too thick. I used some aluminized tubing from my local muffler shop. You want to slide the pipe in where the cam was, and pull up a dowel rod and unseat it from the tappet. The Tappet will fall onto the "tray" you made (the cut in half pipe). Then work the tray out and collect the tappet, repeat 12 times. Tappet 12 is the most stressfull because it's way back there, you can barely see it. It's easy to drop off the tray.
To get the new tappets in:
Take your re-modified dowel rods (1" or 3/4"), and wire, tapped into your tappet, and lay them in your tray, then look down from the top of the block and with your "thing longer" (somebody help me out here), reach down through the pushrod holes and fish up the string and tappet. Be careful because, as I learned, there are 3 holes per cylinder, and only two of them are for the tappets, the other hole, I assume is for an oil drain.
Once you get the tappets fished up just use your clothes pins to hold up the tappet/wire.
You need to make sure your dowels are firm, so they won't drop the tappets, but not so tight so that when you yank the wire, the wire and dowel come out, and that the wire doesn't just rip out of the dowel rod. That's no fun, because by the time you have to yank out the dowel rods from the tappets, the cam is already back in, so, you have to put all the dowel rods back in, yank the cam back out, get that tappet out, and fish it back in with a new modded dowel. Quite the hassle.
Other than that, just try not too think too hard about dropping a tappet. If I understand correctly, you have to drop the oil pan to get the tappet out, and to do that requires lifting the motor up slightly, but, I could be mistaken.
Hope that helps. It's late, and I may have left something out.
Merrick
R&R'ing the lifters is a long stressful process, much easier without the head on. So, do it with the head off.
If you can, I'd stay with the OE tappets, but if you have alot of miles, then they should be replaced with the cam. (I'm not sure if the helix cam mandates you replace the tappets or not... . )
Just use some wire and cut the dowels you used to hold the lifters up into about a 3/4" or 1" section, where it's tapered off, and drill a 1/16" or so hole through the dowel and run the wire through the dowel. (If the dowel is not cut short enough, it will be very hard to "fish" the tappet back up into the correct hole in the block.
What you are looking for is a little stopper looking thing plugged into the tappet and about 12" of wire extending from that.
Use some metal fingers, I'm not sure what they are really called, but they are about 30" long, kinda like a tightly wound spring with a hard metal rod in the middle. When you press the little buttton on one end three little fingers extend and can "grab" something, when you realease the button, the fingers retract and pinch onto whatever you are trying to hold onto. I call it a "thing longer" (from a TV Cartoon called Futurama), but I don't know the proper name for it.
TO get the OE tappets out:
Take a 2. 5" pipe and cut it in half. It has to be thin wall. A PVC pipe will not work, the walls are too thick. I used some aluminized tubing from my local muffler shop. You want to slide the pipe in where the cam was, and pull up a dowel rod and unseat it from the tappet. The Tappet will fall onto the "tray" you made (the cut in half pipe). Then work the tray out and collect the tappet, repeat 12 times. Tappet 12 is the most stressfull because it's way back there, you can barely see it. It's easy to drop off the tray.
To get the new tappets in:
Take your re-modified dowel rods (1" or 3/4"), and wire, tapped into your tappet, and lay them in your tray, then look down from the top of the block and with your "thing longer" (somebody help me out here), reach down through the pushrod holes and fish up the string and tappet. Be careful because, as I learned, there are 3 holes per cylinder, and only two of them are for the tappets, the other hole, I assume is for an oil drain.
Once you get the tappets fished up just use your clothes pins to hold up the tappet/wire.
You need to make sure your dowels are firm, so they won't drop the tappets, but not so tight so that when you yank the wire, the wire and dowel come out, and that the wire doesn't just rip out of the dowel rod. That's no fun, because by the time you have to yank out the dowel rods from the tappets, the cam is already back in, so, you have to put all the dowel rods back in, yank the cam back out, get that tappet out, and fish it back in with a new modded dowel. Quite the hassle.
Other than that, just try not too think too hard about dropping a tappet. If I understand correctly, you have to drop the oil pan to get the tappet out, and to do that requires lifting the motor up slightly, but, I could be mistaken.
Hope that helps. It's late, and I may have left something out.
Merrick
Thanks again Merrick! I really hope its not necessary to change out the lifters, I guess i,ll just have to see what they look like,and go from there! About how long does it take for a first timer to change out the cam ? Also what fix did you use on your killer dowell pin??
No fix really. The Dowel Pin is supposed to be there to keep the gear case aligned, but, I didn't have a pin, so I didn't put one in. I recommend you put one in. (Do as I say, not as I do?)
I'd give yourself two full days to do a cam for your first time.
When I did my cam the first time I was told that it was absolutely necessary to change the lifters, but recently I've seen a trend for not replacing them, and not having any problems.
Merrick
I'd give yourself two full days to do a cam for your first time.
When I did my cam the first time I was told that it was absolutely necessary to change the lifters, but recently I've seen a trend for not replacing them, and not having any problems.
Merrick
On a gas motor you ABSOLUTELY change the lifters, however I haven't even seen lifters for sale for the CTD, maybe I'm not looking hard enough as I can't afford it anyways... Largely due to the extreme pricing of cams and springs. I can't believe the astronomical price of a cam and springs. But I still find it quite odd to run used lifters on a new camshaft.
When I do my cam swap I am going to change the lifters ande I have 115,000 miles on the truck and I would rather be safe than sorry, I am put in a F 1helix 2 cam. Every thing that have read on the lifters is that they are one of the strong parts of the engine and that you are more likey to run the cam flat than wear out the lifters. I don't know if that is true or not but I would rather be safe than sorry like I said before.
I second that! Some things become very do-able when you can actually see the process. Trying to figure it out from a manual..... not so much.
Great job and thanks for the video!
Mike
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Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
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Renew
Subscribe
Gift Subscriptions
Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
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Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
Cameron Collection
What Makes Us Tick?
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