After taking the 12mm bolt out of the sprocket, I cant get the gear off... is it supposed to be easy to take out? Am I supposed to remove that BIG ~1" nut in the middle of the gear? A picture would be great-
Thanks

 

Elon,

You said you took the 12mm bolt from the sprocket, are you refering to the 12point in the gear?

Anyway, yes, you need to remove that big nut, just tap it side to side and it should work loose. Once you have that off, you can use a set of dikes to pull the woodruff key and then you can side the sprocket off the cam. now, remove the 10mm bolts that hold the back of the distributor housing to the cam housing. Once these are out, you should be abble to remove the distributor housing by gently taping on the back with a light dead blow hammer. Be carefullat this point because once that housing is loose it will want to pull the cam thru the housing also, thats bad...the slightest ding from the cam on the cam housing will cause the cam to lock in...and you won't be able to get it out. Or you can, but its a bitch and you have to repair or replace the cam housing.

All of this should be done ONLY with the assembly off the car and the lifters removed.

Hope this helps.

Take Care!

 

Aw man, you can do it on the car - we don't remove the cam housing to replace the Oring behind the distributor housing during a front seal job...

Just don't go clobbering anything. The distributor housing can be rotated back and forth (clockwise/anticlockwise) a few degrees as you are pulling it toward you - it will walk out of the the bore on the cam housing.

During reassembly - be CERTAIN that you have a wrench tightly locked on the 1" nut shaped collar to prevent cam rotation whilst torquing the 12mm triple-square. Also be CERTAIN the triple-square is well-seated in the bolt. Drilling those things out after rounding them is a bummer.

 

Also - make sure the lifters go back in the holes they came from originally.

 

Keith, how do you get the Cam out of the housing with the assembly still on the car???

The post topic is "having trouble getting the cam out of the housing"

Keith..."Also - make sure the lifters go back in the holes they came from originally. "

How do you get the lifters out without pulling the cam housing off the car? This is a cool trick I need to know about :-)

Take Care!

 

Thanks for the replies people! I finally managed to get the damn cam out (im a poet and dont even know it)
The end piece was REALLY on there, but I managed to break it loose
Now for the powder coating....

 

Great job! I know that distributor housing can be a real pain...but you got it...

Take Care!

 

I do have one more question though!

The front distributor housing...is that a gasket in there, or just a sealant of some sort? I had to scrape it out before baking...

 

Its just a foam sealer, I've never seen any in good shape and have cleaned it oput of most cars I have modded. Its ugly, black..and just kinda sits/hangs there...no sweat, you can live without it.

A wire brush works great to get it out cleanly.

Take Care!

 

Don't forget the onion-skin gasket!!!

 

Ha ha ha John - good stuff! - I was responding to the getting the distributor housing off bit - not the cam, LOL!

However, if you are ever on the East Coast, I'll show you some of the *tricks* to these pesky cam housings, ok?

 

Keith :-)

I'm just jerking ya, I know...I couldn't resist. YOu show me a few tricks and I'll share just the same...we all learn more each day. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of these cars we work on...everyday, I find a new tool, or a neat work around.

Take Care Keith!