All Cam Timing, No Drama

[klweimer]

OK, too much drama and intrigue right now. Let's talk about something constructive, like cam timing. I've been working on a set up to be able to use a degree wheel from Mark Allison on my FI '82 2 Liter Spider. Without having to change the front pulley, or draining the radiator or removing the water pump. So a while back I asked the forum for a pulley to work with and cormac sent me one. I designed a plastic (Delrin for those who care about such things) adapter that fits on a modified degree wheel and the crank pulley on the engine. The adapter has a little threaded gizmo that locks it to the pulley when you're ready to set TDC. I also cut down the 38 mm socket so I can swing the crank with a ratchet and leave the radiator in place. I have a few pictures that show the degree wheel attached to the pulley and installed on the engine. Next stop is the dial indicator for the TDC on cylinder 1 and the lifter on each cam. Pictures once I get that designed and built.

Modified degree wheel with pulley adapter and cut down socket


Degree wheel with locking gizmo to hold TDC on pulley


Side view


Better view of cut down socket



OK, I saw this at the Denver airport and thought it was cool. The bassist for Iron Maiden is one of the pilots.

I'll post some pics of the wheel on the engine this weekend.

[So Cal Mark]

boy, it's tough to degree cams with the engine in the car. I used the inner half of a 1438 crank pulley as an adapter

[RRoller123]

+1.

I will vouch for that. I ended up reducing the degree wheel at Staples onto heavy business card stock and mounting t to the pulley with strong magnets. pointer a wire attached to the sway bar below. Sort of worked, but I had to do some iterative adjusting afterwards to get it to run right, and it turned out I was pretty far off with the exhaust cam. Sorted now though.

[aj81spider]

Instead of cutting down a socket I found a low profile socket that lets me get on the crankshaft nut without pulling the radiator:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FE ... UTF8&psc=1

[klweimer]

I really like the low profile socket, wish I had seen that before I cut one down! I'll post pictures of the wheel in place on the engine this weekend. I've had it in already, it's a tight squeeze, but clears the sway bar and the water pump bolts (barely).

[baltobernie]

boy, it's tough to degree cams with the engine in the car.

I made notches in my degree wheel at 0°, 40° and 80° so they could be seen from the side. My car has a single groove crankshaft pulley, so there's a lot more room in there. We did, however, successfully time a 2L with a thicker pulley, by removing only the fan and mount.