Chunkerz

As the title states, I disassembled my camshaft housing for paint/reseal and I came across some very interesting things. First one is these marks on my camshaft lobes. All 8 have these marks and they're all facing the rear of the camshaft.


The next issue I have is while removing the front seal for the camshaft the inside of the hole got a bit messed up... Are these scratches anything to worry about?


Of course nothing on this car is easy to take apart... That stupid cheese head bolt on the front of the camshaft stripped, so I burned up 2 drill bits trying to drill it out. What great fun that was....


After drilling the head off the bolt I am left with the rest of the bolt stuck in the end of the camshaft. Does anyone have any ideas for getting this out?


And last but not least, does anyone have any tips for degreasing the camshaft housing/the pieces that cover the cam gear so my paint will stick? I've been soaking them in degreaser, scrubbing them with a wire brush, then wiping it off with a paper towel, but I can't seem to get it all. I was planning on power washing them, but I'm not sure how well that will work...

Nashio

I would have used an easy out on the stripped bolt. but since you drilled it off use an easy out on the remaining piece. They are like a reverse drill so it tightens counterclockwise so it will unscrew the bolt.

Chunkerz

I've heard bad things about easy outs. This bolt was pretty damn stuck and I'm afraid the easy out might break off in there and cause me more pain. A breaker bar with a 4 foot long pole on the end couldn't get this bastard loose, so I don't know if an easy out would survive.

Jrboulder

Buy another camshaft. They are way too cheap to get all worked up about.

Van

Is there enough of the bolt to grab with visegrips? Usually that works (once the head is disconnected there isn't much force holding it in). You can always weld a nut onto the broken bolt, too.

I've had really good luck with soda blasting for degreasing.

As for your damage to the distributor housing, it looks like those marks are only on the seal mounting surface. Not ideal, but shouldn't harm any of the rotating surfaces of the housing/cam shaft.

Van

p.s. the marks on the cam lobes are normal. What you don't want to see is a cam where the tips of the lobes are rounded over on the edges.

jc85G

While removing the head of the bolt will normally relieve the pressure and allow the shank to be easily removed, that bolt has loctite on it. You will probably have to apply heat to the bolt to loosen the loctite. Heat the bolt, not the camshaft. Heat the end of the bolt and allow the heat to "soak" into the shaft of the bolt, then remove it with vise grips or pliers while its hot.

Chunkerz

I'd really rather use mine if possible since it's worn in with my lifters. I see them going for about $100, but after spending almost 2 grand in the past few months money is kind of tight...

There isn't really much left to grab onto, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. I don't have access to any welding equipment, but I'm sure a local shop could weld a nut on there for a few bucks.

Soda blasting looks like it's basically sand blasting, except I use baking soda. Is it possible to convert a sand blaster into a soda blaster?

I might try to sand down those scratches a bit so they don't chew up the new seal when I insert it. Does anyone have any pointers for removing those types of seals? I have 3 more to do and I don't want that to happen to the balance shafts/crank...

Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with the flattened lobes/dished lifters from the VW diesel world. That was one of the first things I looked for when I popped the cam tower off. What are those marks from?

I'll try that tomorrow and see how it goes. If that doesn't work then I'll try an easy out. If that doesn't work I'll get a nut welded to it. If that doesn't work, then I'd better start selling lemonade so I can buy another cam....

Thanks for the ideas so far!

jc85G

I've been doing it this way on these for 20 years, never had one I couldn't get out. Heat plus anything that will "grab" it to remove it will work. Welding a nut works because it applies heat, also gives a convenient way to turn it. If you're going to use an easy out, drill the hole in the bolt before you heat it, heat will harden the bolt making it harder to drill.

Van

For the crank seal, if you can remove the oil pump drive gear, you can lever the seal from the inside edge. If you can remove the drive gear, you can drill a little hole in the seal, thread in a sheetrock screw, and pull it out with pliers.

For the balance shaft seals (and the camshaft seal), I take the housings off, then with a socket and a hammer, tap out the metal bushing and the seal together.


It's actually the cooling off, or quenching, that affects harness. Heating up and a slow cool down will anneal, or soften, a hardened steel. (Why you want to use minimal heat to cut spring steel.)

jc85G

I didn't mean the heat itself will harden it, I was referring to the technique of using heat to remove the shank versus just a drill & tap, reverse drill, etc. After a couple of heating and cooling cycles, it will be very difficult to drill.

carlege

I do have a spare if you want it for 20 plus shipping. nevermind didnt realize i was in the NA forum You wouldnt benefit from a turbo cam

ian

Well if the OPs car is pre 1985.5 then the turbo cam is the same one that is in his car.

Chunkerz

I have a late car, so the turbo/early cam won't work. I assume it fits, but my car won't be happy with it. Just curious, what's the difference between the turbo, early, and late style camshafts? Valve lift/duration?

Any thoughts on pulling those seals? My timing belt tools should be here any day now so I wanna get crackin' on those front engine seals...

Edit- some of you may recall my thread about igniting my car. While removing the cam gear I noticed that the piece the rotor attaches to (not sure what it's called) was missing the bolt that holds it onto the front of the camshaft. I also discovered that the hole in this piece was not completely lined up with the threaded hole in the camshaft. That may have been a contributing factor to my issue....

Der Treiber

Van gave you some ideas on those seals, below, so just a couple more thoughts on that. I had a budget for specialty tools for my belt and seal project, which was used up on the arnworx tension gauge, so I had to improvise on the others. Pretty hillbilly, since I don't have a metal shop or welder, but they all worked great.

a&b) cut a scrap of .75" ply, removed the pull arms from my gear puller, and traced it on the block and cut it out. Drilled pilot holes for (3) 3" wood screws surrounding the center hole. Then took a tiny drill bit and drilled holes every 120 degrees on the crank seal. Don't know if that's what they're for, but the seal has molded dimples that are in exactly the right spot (inside to outside) for drilling. Take care not to penetrate too deeply (>.25") into the seal w/ either the drill bit or the wood screws, or you will muck up the oil pump housing behind the seal. Once the screws and scrap piece are mounted to the seal, slip the gear puller through the cutout, rotate it so the arm mounts pull on the block, then tightened the center pivot against the center of the crankshaft until the seal pops out. Nice!...most seals w/ probably come out w/ just the three screws and scrap piece to grab and pull with, but my seal and oil pump sleeve were pretty stubborn, so this was a safer approach than jabbing at the seal w/ a screwdriver.

c) replacing balance cam seals require removing the housing since you have to replace that onion seal on the shaft behind the spacers. More of a pain for the lower cam than the upper, w/ all the waterpump attachments. Then, just cut a piece of hanging rod dowel, and hit it w/ the grinder, until it slips just inside the housing. One tap is all it took to push those cam seals and spacers out.

d) I cut, stacked and glued a set of oak rings, and wedged the old crank seal on it. I slipped the crank bolt and washer through a saw blade (using it like a giant washer, since I didn't have the right size washer nearby), then through this thing, and tightened it into the crankshaft until the seal slipped in...watch all the way around the seal as you tighten so it goes in straight...would have been easier to pick up a piece of pipe at home depot, but w/ the traffic and travel, it took about the same amount of time to make this stupid thing.

With a little moly on the outside perimeter, you can push the balance shaft seals over the spacers and into the housing w/ your fingers, and gently tap them into place w/ a small plastic mallet. I made another oak ring for that, since the crank seal is a different size, but you wouldn't necessarily have to.

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