Part 1. Preparation and safety
Objective
Personal safety
Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:
- Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
- Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
- Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
- Hand protection - such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
- Respiratory equipment - such as face masks and valved respirators
If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.
Safety check
- Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.
Points to note
- Ensure the camshaft bearing surfaces and lobes are coated with a light covering of lubricate oil.
Part 2: Step-by-step instruction
- Lubricate camshaft bearings
The camshaft bearings should already be installed. This time, lubricate them with a small amount of assembly lubricant, or regular engine oil, spread evenly. Clean all of the camshaft journals and lobes again.
- Lubricate and insert camshaft
Spread assembly lubricant all over the distributor drive gear and all of the lobes of a new camshaft. This is a messy job, so start with the gear and the first four lobes at the rear of the cam.
Spread some oil or assembly lube on the two rear journals and insert the cam in the block until we can leave it hanging on those two journals. This will leave the next four lobes of the cam easily accessible. Continue, making sure each lobe is fully coated, with oil on the next journal, and carefully pass it in. This would be a very messy procedure if you had lubricant on all the lobes. Wear gloves to protect your hands. It will make cleaning up a lot easier too.
With the last set of lobes, hold the front of the cam with one hand and reach inside the block to feed the cam carefully in. If you leave out the cam plug in the very back of the block it will help you to ease the final few inches camshaft in. Don't forget to install the cam plug afterwards.
If you decided to install the cam plug already, put the upper gear on the cam and slide it in with both hands from the front of the block.
The camshaft should now be in place, fully lubricated and spinning smoothly.
