Cam swap - what all do i need?
 

I'm getting ready to order my timing belt and water pump, and while I have the car down, I'm gonna swap my cams for the n/a cams I got.

Besides the timing belt kit, can anybody give me a list of what all I am going to need to get this done? Special tools? Gaskets, seals, etc would be nice to have a list for. I know I'll probably need new cam seals and a gasket for the cam/valve cover, but what else?

Thanks in advance.

Yes I would do the cam seals while you are in there. You will need a sealer for the cam cover. I would not cheap out I would get the Volvo stuff! It is expensive but well work it in the end. You will also need the spark plug o-rings(they go between the cam cover and head.

Tech: thanks. I REALLY didnt want to get into this and realize "crap, i need XXXX and can't get it for 3 days"

Hey! Is there a REAL performance gain with the N/A cams in a Turbo?

I have the replacement motor torn down and could easily find N/A cams.

Any idea on the spec's of the cams?

ie. I heard the Turbo cams have lower lift but are the Centerlines, overlap and durations similar? My concern would be that increased lift could be cancelled out by too much overlap allowing intake charge to go out the exhaust. (would also over work the CAT and heat up the turbo.)

Yeah, make sure you get all oem seals, ESPECIALLY the chemical sealant.

*deleted comment about searching*

The general consensus is that their must be since they have longer deration, and slightly larger lift... however i have not seen ANYONE.... EVER.... post a before and after dyno. So I'm not conviced they are of any real improvment.

There are plenty of other things to do that will net a larger gain.

HOWEVER.... If your in there for something else... timing belt, lifters, valve seals, etc... In that situation i say have at it...

I'm just not about to crack an engine open for just the cams. (unless someone posts some good evidence... or comes out with some "performance" cams...)


Also wont you need a tool to compress the valve springs there Ibified?

I have NA cams. Obvious gains over turbo cams. Look at all of the built cars on VS, almost all of them are running NA cams. And pulling the cam cover to swap cams is no big deal. Takes an afternoon, there's nothing really hard about it. Personally, I think if your car is stock, then there's other things I would do before doing a cam swap.

No special tools required.

More or less... My point exactly.

the rest of my response was fishing for someone to post a chart =)

I go to the jy a lot and see a lot of NA cars. I am thinking about snagging a pair of NA cams. Should I get a pair from a '93 or does it matter?

Also, just to beat that dead horse again, will I gain a 1/2 second in the 1/4 mile?

I don't know who the OE supplier is, but I can't think of any reason not to go with a quality aftermarket manufacturer. Never had any problems with the Fel-Pro stuff my local parts store sells.

I think you got it pretty much covered....cam seals, O-ring seals around the spark plug hole, and a special sealant for the cam cover. There's no gasket in there. I don't know what you'd use. Every time I've had to pull my cam cover, it was to do a head gasket, and the gasket set included a tube of sealant.

You really don't need any special tools, depending on how extensive your tool collection is. You'll need a big socket for the crankshaft nut (32mm I think), but everything else is just the usual sockets...10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm

DO NOT remove the cam cover until you have the belt off. Stuff will break, and you will not be happy.



Nope. The valve springs are recessed into the head, and the cam sits on top of them.


Like what? A set of used cams at a junkyard won't cost much at all. I would think the bang for the buck would make cams number one, especially if they give "obvious gains".

Why would you bump a 2 year old thread?
and then try to debate gabe of all people?

N/A cams on a stock motor will do nothing but give you a girgle at idle.
In order to enjoy N/A's you need to have them timed correctly for your tune

So, if I have a R and do NOT plan to get a tune, should I just keep my current cams or will I get more out of NA cams?

The R cams are no different than the non-R.

If your in there and have the 93 N/A cams...do it. They have higher lift and duration.

I was doing a search, trying to find some info to get my car running. It was late, I was tired, and I didn't notice the date on the thread. My bad.

That being said though, I'm not sure what debate you're referring to. Was it the suggestion that I've never had a problem with aftermarket seals? Or was it asking what modifications someone would make, if they say they would do other things first?

I have no idea who gabe is, so I'd appreciate if you'd let me know whose posts I'm not allowed to question.

Are the cams from a '94 the same as the '93 cams? I know I have access to '94 cams, I'd have to wait for some '93 cams.

(As you see from that other post, I'm thinking about taking care of any internal motor stuff if I have to go in there).

BUMP

Ok, last call on this question... Are the N/A cams in a '93 the same as the other N/A cars? Of do I need to find '93 cams?

Ok, I did a lot of reading last night and it appears that the '93 cams are a little better so I'll try to get a pair of those.

From what I'm reading it sounds like there is some power gain, maybe because these cams change the torque curve. On the GLT's you get more torque faster, like at 1,800 RPM's where as the T5's don't get their very usable torque till around 3,500 RPM's. Someone also mentioned that they thought the HP gain was about 15.

I wonder if the gain in performance increases fuel economy? From what I have read, most of the people that have done the mod doesn't know the basic gain because the can't resist doing other mods at the same time.

I use car-part.com to check which parts will swap. I assume some sort of interchang database is part of their program.

I did a search for cams, for a '93, and I got listings for '93-'96 N/A motors. I would therefore assume they're all the same.