ok im doing my cam swap finally after waiting for almost seven months.. well anyways im kinda confused bout the whole dot to dot thing, i was reading it up on ls1howto.com and well can some one kinda explain it to me a lil different if possible thanks again...

 

With timing chain installed, dot on crank gear goes straight up and dot on cam gear goes straight down.

 

+1 thats the way its done. Some people get kind of nervous so you might want someone there to check and make sure they are straight. It was easy for me took about 5 min.

 

if you're even one link over on the chain it'll be *very* obvious. Take your time and double check everything. You should be fine.

 

make sure these line up before you take it apart.

 

thanks guys those pics give me a real good idea i really appreiciate it should i just gotta get those dots lined up no top dead center stuff?

 

Most people simply line up the dots and say that all is well. The more serious guys will actually degree the cam...you would need a cam degree kit to do that and it requires a little technical knowledge, some math skills, and time.
I installed my cam dot-to-dot and then found that it was 4 degrees off...I was able to get the intake center line corrected using an adjustable timing chain.
My advice is to always degree the cam for maximum power and to get the valve event timing correct. However, the vast majority of folks on this board that do cam swaps just slam it home and go to the dyno.

 

+1, do it right the first time and degree it in. makes a huge difference. my cam was about 3 degrees off.

 

If you are just doing dot to dot make sure to turn the motor over by hand a couple times and make sure they are still lined up.

 

ummm, once they are setup, they shouldn't ever change, but it certainly doesn't hurt to check.

On a more serious note, if you are installing the 233/239 112 cam that is in your signature, or anything larger, I would definitely recommend degreeing the cam, as well as a check for piston to valve clearance. If the P&P 806 heads (also in your sig) have been milled to increase the compression, you could be dangerously close. If the timing is off, possibly too close.

Good Luck!

 

So you just line up the dots on the sprockets right, or is there another dot on the cam itself that has to be matched up with the cam sprocket before it's bolted to the cam?

 

the cam gear can only go on one way its got a little pin on the cam and the gear will just slip on that and line the bolts up it is easy just be easy sliding the cam in threw the bearings and put a good amount of lube on the cam before slipping it in

 

once you have them lined up they aren't going anywhere. the minimum amount you can be off is one tooth. its obvious if you have it off by that amount.

 

Its a simple check guys. I've done a couple where we couldn't agree that it was dead on. After spinning the motor over a couple times you could tell. If you have the pushrods and springs done it also helps verify their operation.

 

It'll either be on or a whole link off. Being **** I spun my motor over a few times and even re-did it to be 100% sure.

Unless you have an adjuatable timing set don't bother degreeing the cam... as you can't do anything about it.

Some cams come ground off... but I had no issues w/ mine. LGM told me the degree'd the first few they had cut from COMP and found them perfect, after than they just install dot/dot.

If I had the heads off hte car or was building a new motor I'd degree it for sure, but for my simple cam swap I went dot/dot.

Here's my dot/dot pic w/ my LS2 chain:

 

If you had an adjustable timing set, and you wanted to advance the timing how would this be done?..What would the dots look like at the point of advance instead of being straight up?..

Kev

 

How you move it will depend on your timing set. Some use multiple keyways on the crank gear, in which case the installed keyway will advance or retard from the point you've measured at 0. Those should remain dead on dot to dot. Other sets use either an adjusting eccentric around/over the cam pin, or a locking mechanism with several nuts to loosen and rotate the outer gear in relation to the inner gear.

Since moving the cam gear one degree equates to two crankshaft degrees, you would probably not be able to detect the difference to the naked eye without moving it a lot.

 

^ Love your avatar

 

Makes sense...Thanks...
Wurd on the avatar...Haha...Good ****

Kev

 

make double triple quadrupple sure tis DEAD on or else you'll break **** on start up like me