Hello again folks,

I'm back to beat another dead horse. In anticipation of having some more time this weekend to work on my car, I wanted to clear up some questions I had regarding the replacement of the camshaft cover. First and foremost, how much room for error is there in terms of cam alignment when installing the camshaft cover? I didn't end up making a locking tool, nor did I lock the cams to the cover since it was going to the machine shop to get cleaned up. I saw in one of the threads that turned up during my search that people say there isn't much, but I wanted to know exactly how much room I've got before I risk bending a valve. I have both cams marked, and intend to keep them as close to aligned as possible during cover installation.

I was also wondering about the actual installation of the cam cover. Some say that making a draw-down tool is an absolute must, while others say it's safe to do if you are extremely careful and tighten each bolt a tiny bit at a time in sequence. I'd rather avoid making the tool as time is very short and I have a deadline to get the car out of the garage I've occupied, but will if I must. If I do have to make one, what threaded rod is the right one to thread into the spark plug holes?

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

When I did my head a year ago, I didn't bother with an alignment or hold down tool. With the sprockets left on the cams, it's easy to keep them aligned by hand. I used 4 C-clamps to hold down the corners - be carefull, you're clamping on aluminum. It's amazing how well the car runs with good compression across all 5 cylinders!

 

Good to hear! I still have the gears on my cams, I just wasn't sure whether 5 degrees or so out of alignment would be enough to make the valves contact the piston. Did you happen to secure the cams to the cover before installation, or did you just lay them in the head and put the cover on on top of them? If it was the latter, how did you go about tightening the c-clamps when pulling down the cover so that you didn't damage the cam bearing race in the front side of the cover?

 

I believe I read somewhere that 7 degrees is the factory margin, but don't quote me for sure. hopefully someone can verify it

 

I just placed them in the head - Don't mix up the cams and put them in the wrong place! Center the cover carefully, clamp it down, tighten all those bolts a little at a time.

 

Understood. The cams are marked (I at least had the wherewithal to remember that ). Now, just to get this straight, am I to clamp the cover all the way down, or am I just to use them to keep the cover snug while tightening the bolts a little bit at a time, tightening the clamps as I go?

Thanks for letting me pick your brain!

 

As for alignment, as long as you roll the motor over by hand before you start the car you should be safe.

As for the cover, I used squeeze clamps when I did my head, no draw down tool. However, I would NOT do it again. You really don't want to clamp the ends, edges, etc. down or put much pressure on them because you don't want to bend the cover. What I did the other day was:
- Set the cams in the head.
- Set the cover on top of the head and cams.
- Put the 40 (38) screws in place. The screws are long and will make sure the cover is lined up. Make them finger tight.
- Snug all the screws down, basically finger tight plus 1/2 turn. Do this in the PROPER PATTERN of installation. When you get to the end the center screws will be very loose again. The process will draw the cover down nicely.
- Once the cover is down, torque it on the final sweep.

 

Yes, just as you describe. As I recall, things lined up best at the pullies end and I worked my way toward the trany end. Don't over clamp! The cover is thin alloy, be carefull! I don't like to admit it, but I had to do this job twice. The first time I buttoned everything up, I left a short 10 mm socket under the cover near the exhaust cam. It sounded like a bicycle bell ringing while the engine was running. Happily, no cam or tappet damage. Just an oddly misshapen socket found inside. That was a year ago and the car runs great. It's good fun putting the BMW drivers in their place. Cheers.

 

 

Awesome, thank you very much! That's the approach I'll be using.

Curious note, though. I've seen in a few places that, like you say in your video, with the timing marks aligned the motor is not at #1 TDC. Before I pulled my motor apart, I set the timing so that both the cam marks lined up, and painted a few corresponding marks on the crank pulley and motor mount to line up the crank later just like I did when I replaced the timing belt/tensioner (hard to reliably see the mark on the gear for me). When I pulled the head, it sure looked like the motor's at #1TDC:



Wonder what gives?

Either way, thanks a bunch everyone. I will proceed to button up my car with confidence. Just in time too, dropped below freezing last night, the cold times are a-comin and my bicycle is about to get put away for the season.

 

It is close, but not TDC.

 

Interesting, I wonder if they did that to somewhat reduce the risk of bending valves when resetting timing...

 

Well, it allows the cams to turn when the crank is on mark. Btw, my grades in school improved a lot when I stopped asking why and just worked the problems like they told me to.

 

lol, I think asking questions is in my nature. Perhaps a little too much

 

No problem. Just over thinking is common among DIY'ers.