Ok, my buddy has a 93 EX with the 1.6 VTEC SOHC. Somehow, at the end of the camshaft where the distributor goes into is chewed out, and the car is not firing up because of that.

We got a 99 Civic EX head with cam already in. We were originally going to swap the whole head, but with all the work in stuff in this shitty garage the car is in, we may just do the work from the top by swapping cams. Also it looked like the VTEC solenoid didn't fit either from our 93 to 99 head. Two questions:

My buddies friend is an expert mechanic. He builds engines. Mainly works with Fords, not too many Hondas I'm sure, but someone who knows his stuff. He told us that since the cam is used, the cam has wear on it specific to the head (cam and rocker arms wear together) and that would not be good to put in the car. Is it ok to install used cams on hondas?

Also, we are going to slip off the timing belt. He said we have to hold the belt firmly with vicegrips so it doesn't loose slack. The reasoning for this is that the tensioner is pressed firmly against the belt, and if the belt just sits, than the tensioner will move back, and if that happens, we will have to remove lower timing cover and move the pulley back. Is this true on Hondas?

We pretty much want to slide off belt, take out old cam, swap in the 99 EX cam. Put everything back together and check timing. This job shouldn't be THAT hard should it? Anything else we should be aware of? We have a shitty Haynes manual, no Helm

Thanks

 

loosen the tensioner bolt with the cam in the head, and pull some slack into the rear of the belt then tighten the tensioner. the spring sets the tension when installing the timing belt, after which you tighten the bolt on it. So, no, the tensioner puley will not "take up slack" when you slip the cam gear off. after you get the cam in and timed right just loosen the bolt and retighten it. (on a b18 LS you turn the motor CCW three teeth measured on the cam gear and then tighten the tensioner bolt.)
What your mechanic says about the cam is good advice on ford and chevy's, but on a honda just put the cam in the head with the old followers and adjust the valves. i have never seen a honda cam lobe fail.

 

Listen up cause heres some very important info that will save you from murdering people.

The way the cam is cut for the distributer is different from 92-95 and 96-01. the cut is 1 cam tooth different. That translates to about 20 degrees. If you put the new cam in the old head you will have either WAY off valve timing or WAY off ignition timing. You can get the car to idle but it'll run like ****. You need to swap the entire head. Thats the only way itll work. TRUST me, I spent too much time on the phone with comp cams to figure this out. However, I did find out that the rocker arms are different between the two engines. One has more lift than the other. Unfortunatly I dont remember which one. If you have both to work with then you can try it out and let us know. All you need to do is use the whole 99 head. This is easier work anyway because you can leave the whole head assembled and torque the head complete and put on the valve cover. Heres another reason you need the whole head. The distributer bolt pattern is different too. So make sure you get the new one. Just remove the wire pins and put the obd1 plug on it and you'll be fine.

The reason the guy says to change the rocker arms is because hes a ford guy and he uses pushrods. With dumbasstic cars all of it needs to be changed. While I agree that is a good practice. Its not what you do with Hondas. The rocker arm assemblies are the cam bearings. I have yet to see or hear of anyone that has replaced the rockers becasue they got a cam. Dont sweat it.

As for the timing belt, I wouldnt use visegrip near it. You WILL damage it if you use them on the timing belt. There is a 14mm bolt you can loosen to release tension its just above the crank pulley to the right behind a rubber plug. I would reccomend finding other help that is perhap more familier with Honda or get that guy a book.