do i need to use one to check clearance between cam caps and cams or just tighten to spec and call it a day?

Last, can anyone give instructions on how to use one?

 

You do not need to plastigage your cam journals because there is no way to take up clearance anyways.


Modified by quik1 at 6:36 AM 7/1/2003

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by quik1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cam bearings .</TD></TR></TABLE>

??? Cam bearings???

Just torque to spec.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by s2geezy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

??? Cam bearings???

Just torque to spec.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha for real... when did hondas get in block cams? Hehe. Yeah tq to spec like s2geezy said.

 

cam bearings.... are those anything like those pesky muffler bearings that keep going bad on me?

Just kidding... go with what those guys said. Pop em in and tq em down.

 

just wondering because i took my cams to a car shop to take the cam bolt off and he told me about using some platigate to check clearances. hes more into building domestics so just wanted verification.

 

?

I guess you COULD do that. But the head isn't like the crank girdle. The journals don't see NEAR the amount of force.

I don't see what good it would do you, if the machine shop is confident enough that the cam journals don't need to be line bored then I wouldn't worry about it.

Someone else can double check me though just to be safe. If you feel more comfortable, then call up a performance shop tomorrow.

Um, John Kaufman at KMS would be a good person to ask. 770-652-3538.
If he's not there tomorrow, then call up Sam Mahdavi at Mahdavi motorsports. 1-866-MAHDAVI. They open at 8am Eastern.

Or if you'd feel more comfortable with a cam company, then I'd call up WebCam, Steve is the guru, but anyone should be able to answer your question. 909-369-5144 They're out in Cali.

Good luck.

 

If the cap or hear has wear on it you will need to plastic gauge it to see if the clearance is with in specs. As for repair a good machine shop can mill the top of the head and zero in on the cap then line hone it back to spec.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 216.226.142.95:27016 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hes more into building domestics so just wanted verification. </TD></TR></TABLE>

How the hell would you plastiguage on domestics? You need to be able to unbolt the caps and you cant on a chev/ford...

 

Generally you don't plastiguage cam bearings on domestics- since they are in block cams! Most people just have the machine shop put them in anyway(cam bearings). You only plastiguage the main and rod bearings like you do on imports.

 

The Helms has a procedure for plastigauging the cams and cam bores.

Another thing you can do is install the cams without valve springs to check for any binding.

--
Tom