I am putting together a b20 w/ gsr head. I tore motor completly apart and rebuilt it. I'm using the same head that came with the car. I got the car with a spun bearing so never drove it, only turned it over to make sure it at least tried to start. Here is my question. Both cam gears are all of the way advanced (aem adj cam gears). This I don't understand. There were no signs of piston to valve contact. Do u think the indicators on the gears are correct and I need to turn gears back to 0, or should I leave it where it is set at? I just don't understand why they are at that setting. It was a completly stock motor when I got it with exception of i/h/e. Don't c any reason the previous owner would need to add that much timing, Any advice is appreciated. thank you

 

Adjustment bolts came loose?

 

I'd take them off and put some stock ones back on. The risks far outweigh the benefits. Unless you're planning to dyno-tune it, they are pretty-much useless. But there's always a risk of them slipping, in which case the valves will take a beating.

 

I agree. But it is built and will need to be on a dyno. Any advice or anyone know of a diagram that showns cam lobe positioning according to crank position?

 

Not getting you fully... there should be timing marks on the crank as well as the camshafts, and the inner and outer cam gear parts. Line up the inner and outer cam gear timing marks with the camshaft timing mark. Then proceed with engine timing like normal. Should be reset then.

 

Both of the cams are advanced as much as the cam gear will allow. What I'm trying to figure out is why it is like this and also where to start with trying to zero the cams out. Is it possible for the car to run like this? Wouldn't there be piston to valve interference? I don't want to zero out the cam gears, start it up, and bend valves. What do u suggest, zero them out or leave them where they are and try it like that? It just throws me off because guy before was driving it like this. So it kind of makes me believe that it is zeroed out now if he was driving it without problems. U kno?

 

Maybe that's one of the reasons why he got rid of it. It's conceivable that the inner part of the gear is not lined up with the timing mark on the cam, and it just looks off, or else it must have slipped. When you turned the enging over, you are sure it was like that? If you're going through all that trouble you might as well just reset the engine timing and reset the cam gear marks to be sure.

 

According to the gears the timing is way off. I am trying to reset the timing. I tgink I'm going to have to pull the gears off and find some stock ones to position the cams, then put the aem cam gears back. Do u know if all b series cam gears are interchangeable? Sorry man I'm jus having trouble explaining this **** for some reason

 

I've only dealt with B16 cams, but I have heard of people using GSR cams in a B16 engine, so I would think they are interchangeable. Timing marks should be on there regardless, though.

 

I have spare b20 cam gears. If Tgey are the same I can zero them out that way. Thanks for the help and advice bro. I'll let u kno what I come up with when I figure it out.

 

Don't the aftermarket gears have degree marks on them??

 

Yes. That is what is throwing me off. They are all the way advanced and as far as I know this Is how he was driving the car before I picked it up. It is possible that they slipped when I turned it over but I don't believe it did. The adjustment screws are still pretty damn tight. I researched and Ls cam gears are same as gsr so I'm just going to take them off, line up the keepers and zero it out from there. Thanks for yalls advice and help.

 

Do your gears look something like these? IF so just set the mark to the middle. It looks like aem gears are +10/-10 degrees. The center would be zero. Alot of people think full advance makes more power but it is not completely true. This could be why they were fully advanced. Lots of timing works great with old v-8s. My 69 charger used to almost run with 30-40 degrees before top dead center and it ran like a raped ape!!!!! My honda, well thats a whole different animal....

 

My bad. Tgey are skunk2. But same concept. So a gsr will not have p2v contact if i ran it with cams that far advanced? To my understanding there would be interference. Maybe that is the question I should of started with. Is it possible to run a gsr with the timing like this?

 

I checked skunks website. It is possible depending on what has been done to the engine. Have you checked the actual mechanical timing to see if everything lines up? I would keep the gears but just reset them to the center of the marks. There is no real way to tell if they touch the piston without turning the motor over by hand with no spark plugs in it and seeing if the valves hit. I would think that would tell you weather or not it can be done.... Just a thought.... Anyone else????

 

Put them to Zero. I was on the dyno once with a friend and the most power cam from 2 degrees and other cam gear negative 1.

People think if you crank the distributor and the cam gears they will make more power.