I already have everything apart and put the new cam in. I went to align the dots and can not find the crank dot. I have probably turned the crank 50 times now and no dot. Could I possibly not have a dot? What are my options? Car is a 98 btw

 

Ive never heard of not having a dot on the crank. It is a bit tough to see though since its blocked by the oil pump. Might try and clean off any oil from the crank gear with a q-tip or something to help you see it better.

 

I will try that...good idea..

 

The dot is on the Crank gear, not the crank. Are you using an new gear set or reusing the old one?

 

Sorry if I sounded misleading but I am looking on the crank gear. I am following LS1HowTo instructions. I swear to you that there is no dot. I have cleaned of every tooth and have not seen this dot anywhere. I have a cloyes timing chain and different timing gear.

 

So you can't find the dot on a new gear?

 

Ahhhh, aftermarket timing set. Im not familliar with how theyre marked. However, you can always find cylinder 1 TDC by feeling for the piston to come up through the sparkplug hole. You better be damn accurate though and make sure youre cam gear dot it pointing straight down and not off a tooth.

And above all else, make sure you spin the motor over by hand a few times to make sure nothing binds up. You have to be extra careful to do it this way, but it certainly can be done.

 

Well the heads and everything else under them is already off the car. Just make sure cylinder one is all the way up?

 

LOL!!! yes. Top dead center on the front most drivers side piston. Cam gear pointing straight down. No worries at this point!

 

Sweet...You can never have to much information. Thanks

 

Final confirmation. I took some pics just to re-verify myself. Does this look good to you guys?

Timing gear dor straight down..



TDC at the same time...



Thoughts?

 

Looks good to me.

 

Ditto.

 

May not hurt to see if anyone you know has a degree wheel you can throw on it to check. Aside from seeing that it is installed correctly, you'll be able to verify your cam is ground correctly, and change the lobe centerline angle with that adjustable timing set, if you wish.

 

There is no one around here that has that. Being overseas as big drawbacks when it comes to car stuff, at least Belgium does. Thanks for advice though.