hacker-pschorr

Replacing a cam tower gasket on my 80. The original plan was to yank the motor over the winter....other projects got in the way. So yes I'm only doing one, this is a quick fix so I can drive the car while I continue working on the engine that will eventually be dropped into this car.

Anyway, I've done this job before and don't recall having this much trouble with the passenger side. The clearance between the cam tower and hard lines running along the inside fender is the difficulty.

This is the first time I've dealt with the early cam towers with the lifter keepers that protrude out from the face of the gasket surface. Getting these to clear the valve springs upon removal is where I ran into trouble. I was finally able to wiggle it away after lifting up the motor an inch or so.

I was thinking how much easier removal would be if I raise up the motor even further. Does it make sense to disconnect just the one side and rotate the engine up? Will I gain much "height" with just one motor mount disconnected or just undo both and raise up the complete engine? Having the engine slightly tilted away from the side I'm working on will also help with installation.

Yes I'm using Greg's gaskets.


I just bought a shop crane so maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to use it..

GlenL

I've done this in the car. It's hard to get to the bolts along the bottom and hard to get good torque on them.

Do you want up or over? I've used a crowbar to move the engine a bit. A half inch means a lot. You could loosen the engine mount bolts and just lift one side. It'd probably come up an inch or two fairly easily but you'd be twisting the whole drivetrain back to the tranny.

Rob Edwards

Somehow or other on Sunday we managed to get the tower back on the passenger side without moving the engine off the mounts (which FWIW are new, not sure whether the early mounts sag, thus making it harder if the engine is then lower..)

It did involve the two of us holding the lifters in the sleeves while rotating the tower down and getting the lower edge of the sleeves over the top of the valve retainers.

The only 'trick' we figured out was to pre-install the 3rd cap screw in the upper row (the one obscured by the shock tower) along with a cut-down long 6mm hex key in the tower, otherwise we couldn't get the cap screw and tool in place.

If I needed to lift the motor, I'd do what Glen suggests.

hacker-pschorr

With a 6mm ratcheting gear wrench it's not that bad getting at those bolts. AFAIK only Gear Wrench makes one.

As I said, not until I raised the whole engine about an inch with a jack (and big wood block) under the oil pan was I able to wiggle the passenger side tower away from the engine due to those hard lines on the fender.

Raising just the passenger side another 1/2" or so would make a huge difference installing. Your point about twisting the drive-train.....maybe not such a good idea.


I pre-install all the top bolts and use a thin piece of safety wire to keep them from moving. Then go across and remove the wire after starting the bolt into the threads. I went this route the first time years ago after continuously losing bolts in the cam tower and having to start over.

My 81 wasn't anywhere near this tight for room....so maybe these mounts have collapsed a bit and the combination of the protruding lifter keepers making the whole thing that much more difficult.

Rob Edwards

That's a good idea- we were sweating each upper bolt insertion. I let William do it.

GlenL

Another trick is to jam the Allen wrench into the capscrew using the tip a piece of wire. Once the bolt is threaded a bit, pull out the Allen wrench and remove the wire. A tie-wrap may work, too.

GregBBRD

I just did this job, too....what a dumb ***.

I was dumb enough to try the "early" factory cam tower gaskets on an engine with the separate lifter guides....because I was too lazy to trim my own gaskets and use them. (On the cars with the "early" seperate lifter guides, my gaskets must have eight "moon cresents" cut out of them so the gaskets do not touch the lifter guides.)

The factory gaskets swelled with the oil and split...leaked oil everywhere.

Loosen both mounts. Jack the engine up at least an inch. Clean the cam housings. Install the cam, the lifter guides, the lifters with the thickest Moly based engine assembly lube you can find. Clean where the gasket sits on both the head and the cam carrier. Place the gasket on the dowels on the head and install the cam carrier assembly. Tighten in a criss-cross manner, starting from the center out. Torque hardware to 14 ft. lbs.