Timing problem

[BadA$$440]

I building a 416, ive got the cylinder on, the head on but im having trouble with the timing. I cant get the chain to stay on the gear on the bottom. Is there a trick? It came off of the gear but now we cant get it on, we took to side case cover off to help but still cant. I got the piston at top dead center, the cam is laying on the head and all i need to do is bolt the cam sproket to the cam. Please help

[RED121572]

Hmmmm....lol

You stated that you do have the head back on. Not knowing the extense of ideas that youve tryed thus far...here is what I did when I was in the same boat you are in now.....

I removed the clutch side cover. I removed the cam. I had a buddy of mine spin the motor AND insure the cam chain did not fall into the crank case.

At the sametime he was slowing ratcheting the motor over and over, I had my fingers down at the gear, pulling the chain towards me and against the teeth of the gears. It didnt take long, but the chain finally worked its way back on the gear.

Hope this helps. Anyone else have any tricks that worked for them??

[nakomis0]

Ya that problem suks. I did that to before, what a pain.

I was lucky enought to have one of them long skinny magnets. Try turning the engine while you do it, like mentioned above. Once you have it on, make sure you keep tension on it so it don't slip off again.

[BadA$$440]

Originally posted by RED121572
Hmmmm....lol

You stated that you do have the head back on. Not knowing the extense of ideas that youve tryed thus far...here is what I did when I was in the same boat you are in now.....

I removed the clutch side cover. I removed the cam. I had a buddy of mine spin the motor AND insure the cam chain did not fall into the crank case.

At the sametime he was slowing ratcheting the motor over and over, I had my fingers down at the gear, pulling the chain towards me and against the teeth of the gears. It didnt take long, but the chain finally worked its way back on the gear.

Hope this helps. Anyone else have any tricks that worked for them??


Me and my dad did exactly that andit went on fine. Thanks for the help guys

[RED121572]

Cool!!

Its good to hear that we all can help each other out from time to time.

Enjoy your rebuilt motor!:D

[YZROOSTINYA]

that thing was supposed to be one 2 weeks ago man!!!

let us know the results

[BadA$$440]

i hear ya man. I just got my rings in thursday and go it runnin this morning (friday). And after about 10 min of puttin around i brought it in to let it cool off and i found and oil leak at the valve head cover. And plus i didnt torque the head nuts or the valve cver bolts so i took the valve cover off and the cam so i ca torque it properly. That should fix the oil leak.

[RED121572]

DOH!! lol

My last rebuild last year didnt hold together very long as well. I threw a headgasket within the first few weeks.

I was lucky enough that it lasted and I finally rebuilt it about two months ago. (didnt replace the headbolts the first time around)

[BadA$$440]

Ok well i think i stripped some holes, so i will probly tap them tomorrow. Also you thnk the head gasket has anything to do with the leaking? My dad said i should buy 2 new gaskets and double the up, is that a good idea or no?

[RED121572]

No, you dont want to double them up. Ensure that gasket surfaces on the motor are super clean and that the headbolts are torqued to specs.

You may run into the situtation as I did.....not replacing the headbolts will cause a thrown gasket. (headbolts do stretch over time)

[BadA$$440]

Ok, so you think i should replace the headbolts? Cuz i took out some of them and didnt see signs of stripping but i did notice on the bottem part of the threads its really fat, and then it gets thin at the top of the threads. But i bought about 3 new ones cuz i brok them and they dont look like tht at all, so u think those bolts are strecthed?

[RED121572]

In my case they were stretched. I replaced the four studs and four headbolts. A mechanic told me not long ago that when rebuilding any motor, always replace the headbolts.

CT Racing does sell headbolts that wont stretch. (so they claim) So, the problem does exist.

Replacing the bolts is not really a cheap thing to do, but If ya got the money, it wouldnt be a bad idea to replace ALL the headbolt studs and bolts. That will solve any "possible" bolt problem you might be experiencing.


Good luck bud.:D

[gojk]

Originally posted by RED121572
In my case they were stretched. I replaced the four studs and four headbolts. A mechanic told me not long ago that when rebuilding any motor, always replace the headbolts.

CT Racing does sell headbolts that wont stretch. (so they claim) So, the problem does exist.

Replacing the bolts is not really a cheap thing to do, but If ya got the money, it wouldnt be a bad idea to replace ALL the headbolt studs and bolts. That will solve any "possible" bolt problem you might be experiencing.


Good luck bud.:D

It isn't a bad thing that they stretch. That is how they torqe down. If they don't stretch then it is just going to strip the threads that they go into.

[RED121572]

Uhhhh.........

No, you dont want them to stretch at all.

Sorry if I wasnt specfic enough. Head bolt stretch happens over time and is more likely in a big bore motor. Those headbolts are under enormous pressure during the motors operation. They will not stretch from a torque wrench.:D

[BadA$$440]

What studs are you talkin about? The head or valve cover? Well i went and bought all 12 new valve cover bolts and a new gasket today and it helped alot, practicly no leaking yet. I just took it around the neighborhood for about 10 mins twice and let it cool. Now im going to take the gas tank back off and see if ay of them need a lil tightening. Also, back whn i took the head over off, i forgot to take a bolt out and took and Chizel to try to pry the head coveroff ( i know, bad mistake) and it messed the surface on the head cover a lil bit so i laid a sheet of sandpaper on some steel and sanded it smooth. thanks for all the help.

[400ex99]

how much were the 12 head bolts, where did u get them from?

[BadA$$440]

i got all the headbolts, plus about 5 extras of each bolt, and 30 small washers cuz they were Hex bolts and i got them from ACE Hardware for like 12 bucks. I went to my local dealership and they wanted to charge me like 2 bucks a bolt. What a rip off. But make sure you know the size of the bolts before you go and buy them.