hello all. I am presently building up my first engine with the help of a friend which is a turbo diesel mechanic. The setup that we're building is a b20b bottom end with a pr3-3 head. both the bottom end and head have the stock internals. So far i did the easiest part of assembling a head on a block. i tourqed down the head on the block but now i have some painstaiking questions.

when i put the cams on do i have to replace those cam oil seals near the cams?

do i have to measure the endplay on the cams?

the reason for askiing about the cam oil seals is because i really didnt want to remove the cam gears to get to them if i didnt have to.

so far i have new valve cover gasket and the spark plug gaskets ordered. Any other gaskets or seals that im overlooking need to be replaced?

here are some pics of my progress so far. anyone that is experienced in this is greatly appreciated.

 

help a 1st timer out

 

i do hope you opened up the valve reliefs some.

dont replace the cam gear seals if you dont want to, but when you start it up, watch it for awhile and make sure its not leaking. it wont just pour out of there, and if its fine then so are you.

 

im just going to replace the oil seal cus i dont want to have to open the head back up. but do i have to check the endplay on the cams?

 

did you open the valve reliefs?

 

i have yet to open them up since i didnt start the process of putting in the cams. was i supposed to open them before i torqued the head down?

 

well the valve reliefs are on the pistons. you really shouldve known what you were doing since it doesnt sound like you do.

 

cam end play? i have never checked it. unless something went very wrong i don see cam play out of wack.
cam seals? why would you not want to change such a cheap seal. what if you start the engine and they leak? lots more work than what you have to do now..

to take the cam gear bolts out i put a piece of paper on the cam journal and HAND tighten the caps

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mmuller &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cam end play? i have never checked it. unless something went very wrong i don see cam play out of wack.
cam seals? why would you not want to change such a cheap seal. what if you start the engine and they leak? lots more work than what you have to do now..
to take the cam gear bolts out i put a piece of paper on the cam journal and HAND tighten the caps </TD></TR></TABLE>

yea i figured that i should change them since the cams are out. as stated in my last post. and even if i do take off the cam gear it wouldnt mess with the positioning of the gear. better to do it right the 1st time.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hybridvteceg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well the valve reliefs are on the pistons. you really shouldve known what you were doing since it doesnt sound like you do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

im sorry if im not making myself clear. what i meant is that i tourqed down the head with the pistons on tdc. i didnt put the cams in and tighten the main cam caps down yet. the shop manual stated that before putting in the cams and tightening the main cam caps, the valve reliefs should be loosened. i didnt do that step yet because im not sure if the cams should be measured for endplay. the shop manual says they should have an endplay of 0.05-0.15 mm . has anyone checked these readings when building up a head?

 

no you cannot mess up the direction of cam gears.

valve reliefs are on the pistons like hybridvteceg sayd; i think your confusing them with the rocker arms

 

I've only heard bad things about these aem 3 bolt cam gears. Not to be pessimist, just giving facts . Good luck on the build

 

valve reliefs= on the piston, part of the casting. you must grind these out a little so your valves wont rape your pistons open like theyre the local B** in cell block C

this means you must take the head back off and start over

 

well, looks like imma need a new head gasket huh? im going to try to clay the pistons to check the clearance on the valve relief.

did anyone ever measure their cam end play?

 

if its a low cr b20b, and ur using an itr cam (max size i would use) u wont have to touch the valve reliefs, make sure u leave the cam gears at 0.

yes change the cam seals, also change the oring thats under the middle cam cap, is directly in the middle of the head under the center cap.