Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec SVT Cams w/99 3.0L Heads?

After two bad engines I am finally getting around to dropping in a 99 3L. Tonight we took the 3L cams out to swap with my SVT Cams only to find that you cannot tighten the bolts down or the cams are so tight that you can't even move then. I measured the cams with a micrometer and both the 3L and SVT cams are exactly the same. Can anyone explain?

Thanks,
Nate
98.5 SVT Lots O mods.. soon.

Are you absolutely positive that you didn't mix up the cam caps or just flip one 180°? You're doing this with or without the lifters & followers?

Try tightening them down one at a time until it locks up. Do the thrust cap last.

A little trick that my father tought me was to set the cam in the heads without the rollers so you can turn it. Don't put the caps on either. Then push down on the cam and turn it back and forith. take the cam out and you will be able to notice any spots that are catching. There will be dark area's. It doesn't take much to mess up the journals. Now on the apots that are screwed up we jsut took a small pocket knife and scraped it a little. Thats all it took. Repeat that as necessary. The caps can also be done the same way. Put he cam in tighten the caps down and turn it, then check all the caps. Also as said above, make sure your putting the right caps on the correct way.

All of the caps are going back on in the right locations. as for tightening one down at a time we have tried everything from tightening down the #1 journal to tightening the #4 first. After just one cap you can't move the cam at all. I will flip them tonight to try then in the correct locations but in the other direction tonight. I am pretty sure though that they are going back in correct with the Cam #'s reading from left to right 4L and so on. Reading from the front facing the block.

Remember those are torque to yeild bolts you're using too. They should be replaced after each time they are torqued...

I have a new set of bolts to torque them down with, however we can't even get them close to torque spec before the cam is to tight to even turn by hand.

-Nate

Cam caps bolts are not torque-to-yield. Torque is 8-12 Nm.

LH head cam caps will be numbered 1L, 2L, ...9L. The RH caps will be 1R, 2R,...8R.

The stampings should all read right-side up when looking from the exhaust side of the head. That's how you know they're not flipped 180°. The exhaust thrust cam cap is #1 (1L or 1R).

Another idea: Tighten all the caps down without the cam. There should be very smooth transistions at the parting line between the cap and the head. In fact, you shouldn't really feel the parting line at all. If you feel a burr, then it's wrong. Remember, you only have about 0.002" clearance. Any burr that you can feel will be at least that big.

The order that I have them in is exactly as you described. I just can't figure out why they are so tight. I measured the cam contact area from the SVT cams to the 3L cams and both are exactly the same using a micrometer.

Something that you haven't answered yet that procyon asked... Have you tightened the cam down without the lifters in place yet? One at a time witout lifters should allow the cam to spin pretty free in the head.

No, haven't tried that yet.. I am going to try that tonight as well as a few other things.