Ok guys bear with me, this is my first time rebulding a motor thats not a smallblock Chevy or VW so I just need some clearifying, I pulled apart my motor to replace the head gasket, I marked everything very well and sent the head off the the machine shop and it got checked and rebuilt and ported. When Iget it back all my marks for lining up the cam gear are gone. The motor is at Top dead center and hasnt moved, and the timing gear and chain havent moved either, So what do I do now to make sure the cam is in the right place and this thing is gonna run right when I get it all back together? Any other pointers for this part of the assembly, The dist is still pointing to #1 and it should go right back in right?

 

I'll give the short answer - follow this::
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...fsm/index.html

but i am subscribing because i will be following your footsteps in the next few weeks

kat

 

I've read through this, And it says how to line up the sprocket and chain but doesnt say how to make sure the camshaft is in the right position

 

The cam shaft can only be in one position !2:00 with the pointers on the sprocket pointing at the pointers on the rocker assemble , make sure they are pointing forward toward the rad.

 

If your engine is at tdc on the compression stoke set in your cam so that the dowel is near 12:00 as said above. When you get around to installing the distributer insert it with the rotor at 12:00 and it will rotate counterclockwise to about where it needs to be to set the timing.

Rob

 

Just put it back together; when you have it all back together & you're ready to slip the timing belt/chain back on just align the marks on the cam gears to the 12:00 position as has been said already; the cam gears are keyed so you can't get them wrong. If the marks on the head from the factory are gone (not sure why they would be) that will get you close enough to adjust the timing with the dist. when you're done.

If the head shop hot tanked the heads & removed the factory paint they should have dinged the spot with a punch, look closely, it might be a small mark.

 

Like the guys said rotate the cam so that the dowel will be at 12:00 (more like 11:58 from my experience). The rocker arms for #1 should be loose and #4 should be tight. This puts the head for #1 TDC compression. Rotate the bottom end so the #1 piston is at TDC, the timming mark on the pulley should be on 5*. Install the dist. with the rotor pointing at 12:00 and the slotted mounting hole centered on the bolt hole. As you push the dist. in it will rotate anti-clockwise to #1.

The worse that can happen is you will be 180* out and would just have to rotate the motor and reinstall the dist.

The FSM link posted above has all of the info you would ever need.