Engine build up

[elliotaw]

It's certainly been a long time coming....I've never had the money to be able to do something like this until now....and probably wont be able to again, so yeah..I'm loving it at the minute.

Elliot

 

[bango]

Yeah,i go along with that,beautiful work going on there,im learning a bit more too..can i ask where did you get the bearings?and what cost?Iv had different prices in Sydney..
Meant to ask,you pollished all those shines..?

 

[elliotaw]

I had trouble locating any bearings for the engine in Australia. I asked David from lextreme and he sorted me out right away. Cant remember what they cost to be honest. I can dig through my paperwork and find out if you like.
I took all the cast aluminium parts to a local chrome plater/polisher who did all the hard work for me.....

Elliot

 

[elliotaw]

Not too much to update. Got a few more brackets etc fitted to the engine. I ordered a new set of cams from kelford on Tuesday and they arrived on Friday. Excellent service, I couldnt believe how quick they went from manufacture to delivery.
I had a slight mishap with one of the cam gears. I took all four of the original camshafts to where I work to remove the centre gears which sit halfway along each shaft. We have a hydraulic press at work which I used to press each of the gears off. Unfortunately, I managed to drop a heavy length of steel which I was using as a packer onto one of the gears and it chipped two of the gear teeth. Sods law I suppose, such is life. So I am now on the lookout for a second hand left hand side inlet cam gear....I will also call toyota tomorrow and get a price for a new one.....I'm not expecting that to be cheap.....

On another note.......someone on here must have been through the same problem...

The centre gears on the exhaust cams are a nice snug fit and only just clear each cam lobe when you remove them along the shaft. The new cams have higher lift and therefore higher lobes..... I cannot seam to be able to pass the gears over the lobes, it doesnt matter what angle of attack I try....it just doesnt quite get enough clearance...
Anyone ?

Elliot

 

[Lambo]

Hi Elliotaw, If was you i would go back to Kelford on this one, they have made a few of these cams up and may have a solution.

Best Regards
Lambo

 

[bango]

Hmm,That cam gear change sure sounds like a real problem,never knew that,did you email Kelford?They might have some ideas..keeps us posted for sure..

 

[dass]

You will need to machine a piece out of the cam gear to clear the cam lobes.
I had to do the same. Depending on the lift, you may also have to do quite a bit of clearancing around the lobes swing area .

 

[elliotaw]

I called Kelford this morning and they knew about the problem. They said that I you have to 'file' a clearance on the bore of the gear. I used a 16mm dia carbide burr to put a small 1/4 moon shape on one side. Took just a few seconds with the burr and fixed the problem. Not too happy about the solution but it shouldnt cause any problems.

I'm still desperately looking for a replacement left hand inlet cam centre gear if anyone can help.

Elliot

 

[elliotaw]

Took a few pictures of the cam gear grinding. You can see the cresent shape I have ground from the bottom of the gear in the first picture and then you can see how easily slides over the cam lobes. It was surprising how little metal had to be removed, it only took a few seconds with the carbide tip, but I reckon you'd be there for a month of sundays if you tried to use a file......

Elliot

 

[bango]

Good stuff,you be the first with this problem solved online..what diegrinder is that?

 

[fugly]

elliotaw, that sure is one shiny engine you got there, looking good.

 

[elliotaw]

The die grinder is a 'black cat' brand. Nothing fancy, another fine ebay purchase. Cheers for the comments.

Elliot

 

[elliotaw]

I ordered the valve clearance shim adjusting tools from toyota which arrived today. What a rip off! If you need them, you need them... I'm planning on making up some of my own design from stainless steel to sell at an affordable price....if anyone is interested.

The cams are fitted now and I;ve measured the valve clearances and noted them all down. Out of the 32, only 1 of them doesnt need changing. After checking through all the sizes I have with the original shims...I need to order nearly a whole new set.

I plan on setting the clearances within the owners manual specifications, but at the tighter end..that's 6 thou inlet and 10 thou exhaust. My reason being that all the valve gear is brand new and I would expect it all needs to seat it self and wear into position so that should keep everything within spec for a longer period of time.

Rather than order the new shims from toyota who will overcharge and probably delay me a few weeks while they source the shims I want...I've found this place :-

www.precisionshims.com.au

Only found them by luck...I was chatting with my brother in law a few weeks ago and he dragged out a motorcyle magazine to show me one of the small ads in the back.... there was the ad for precision shims. A quick check on the internet and it turns out they are located about a mile away from where I work !! You dont often get luck like that ? I called them this morning with a list of all the shim sizes I needed. They guy called me back about 1/2 an hour later with the news that he had everysize I needed on the shelf ready to go! and for AU$10.50 each including tax, I was sold. I've picked them up this afternoon and can report they look excellent quality, the case hardening looks well done and uniform. The only drawback being that they dont have the hole in them for easy removal....

I also asked him how he would feel if I had to return a few shims to swap them for different sizes...he said that was not a problem!!

Elliot

 

[Peewee]

I take it you have fairly small cams then?

Did you consider converting to either shim under bucket, or shimless bucket?

 

[bango]

I take it you have fairly small cams then?

Did you consider converting to either shim under bucket, or shimless bucket?

What exactly is that?I see Kelford have those forsale..
elliotaw...that shim tool you thinking of making sounds good ill be in for one..
If the shims are too big,can they be lapped down to size?

 

[elliotaw]

I wouldnt say the cams are small. It is the same profile that they recommend for twin turbo motors. I did consider different bucket options, but the cost of sourcing them outweighs the weight loss in my book. Kelford list the shim under bucket conversion, but it is not currently available are speaking to Kev, neither is their variable cam timing gear setup.

You would have to be careful if you try to lapp the shims smaller as they are case hardened...meaning that only the outer skin of the shims are hard. Once you break through that they would be much softer underneath. I suppose if you fitted them soft side downmost it is possible. For the sake of $10.50 each it's not worth the effort.

Elliot

 

[Deuce]

Elliot, I see in one of your photos that the timing belt tensioner has been chromed. Was it pulled apart before chroming or were they able to seal aroun d the shaft before putting it in the tank? Also I may be interested in the valve shim adjusting tools depending on price. Regards, John.

 

[elliotaw]

Deuce. The tensioner's main body is made from cast aluminium... I just had the outside surface polished. It has an oil seal on the shaft where it enters the body so I saw no danger of dirt getting into it during polishing so I left it together.
Will let the forum know when I get somewhere with the adjustment tools.
Elliot

 

[elliotaw]

Ive been doing the valve clearances for about the past week or more. I never bothered to number the original shims when I stripped the motor because I knew I was fitting new cams. Before the cams were fitted, I meticulously cleaned each of the cam buckets, smeared them with assembly lube and inserted each into their original positions. I then measured each of the original shims, wrote the measurement down along with its new position on the heads. The cams were then lubed and fitted, each of the bearings was cleaned up before being torqued down into position. This was all done with the crankshaft rotated so that the new belt could be fitted easily.
the shim clearances were then measured with feeler guages. I am aiming for 10 thou exhaust and 6 thou inlet. all the clearances were a mile out as expected and unfortunately (for me) from the combinations I have can only re-use about half a dozen of the original shims. The clearances are far smaller with the new cams/valves so I have had to buy nearly a whole new set.
So far the right hand exhaust bank is complete. All clearances are exactly 10 thou.
The right hand inlet bank is nearly complete. 6 are 6 thou and 2 are 7 thou so I will get them shims changed.
The Left hand inlet bank is similar with 6 set at 6 thou. 2 are still out at 3.5 thou and 8 thou but I dont have any shims to suit.
I've not yet started the last cam.....hopefully in the next day or so I will get to work on them.

I have to say I am now an expert in changing shims....I challenge anyone to a race ! Wonder if we can develop it into an olympic event ?
The lack of hole in the new shims is not proving to be a problem, they are still coming out easy enough with compressed air.....not sure if that will still be the case after a few years...time will tell.

Elliot

 

[elliotaw]

Fitted up and measured the clearances on the last of the 4 cams tonight. Heres a bit of a pictorial of how it went...

First picture shows the left hand exhaust cam. The two separate gears have to have the preload set before you mesh it to the inlet cam gear. First you insert an M6 bolt or whatever fits into the hole to the right.

2nd picture : Lever against the above installed bolt so that the gear rotates so that the hole to the left lines up with the threaded hole of the lower gear.

3rd picture : Once lined up, thread an M6 bolt to lock the two gears together and preset the spring tension.

4th picture : The new cams are drilled right through along their axis. This is the oil gallery. there are small holes in each of the cam bearings to direct oil to each of them. The ends of each cam have to be plugged. Here I am inserting the plug...Note, I have used threadlock to help hold it in position.

5th picture : Lube the cam bearings and install into the head. Make sure the bolt is uppermost and that the single dots on the gears are aligned. Fit the cam bearing upper halves and sequentially torque down. Remove the bolt.

Last picture : Rotate the crankshaft so that each of the cam lobes is pointing vertically upwards. Measure the clearance under the lobe with gauges. repeat with the other lobes....

I need 8 more shims to correct the clearances...and then that saga will be done....

Elliot