Don't turn the crank without the timing chain in place. The pistons will hit some of the valves.

ah, alright, this might be tricky then.

do I have any wiggle room for moving the cam without the crank? or is it any type of turn at all will bend a valve? because if so, then I'm pretty screwed because it has move a little by itself before when I was unbolting the nut after the timing chain tensioner popped out

ah, alright, this might be tricky then.

do I have any wiggle room for moving the cam without the crank? or is it any type of turn at all will bend a valve? because if so, then I'm pretty screwed because it has move a little by itself before when I was unbolting the nut after the timing chain tensioner popped out

OH OH.

Do nothing more! I'm not well-versed enough to be able to tell you what to do to get out of your predicament, but I do know enough to know that you have a predicament.

Chill and wait for the knowledgable ones to tell you what you need to do next.

Chris

Sorry for the bad advice, I assumed that your head was off since you said the front cover was off. Do you have a manual for this engine? If not -you need to get one. If your having a hard time determining TDC on the dizzy, then doing a timing chain is going to be a challenge.

Get a Chilton's manual or equivelant and look at setting up the timing chain. It's a matter of counting teeth and getting the chain set right on the sprocket.

It's going to be hard for us to help you without you being able to reference a manual and you need a basic operational understanding of these engines.

Sorry for the bad advice, I assumed that your head was off since you said the front cover was off. Do you have a manual for this engine? If not -you need to get one. If your having a hard time determining TDC on the dizzy, then doing a timing chain is going to be a challenge.

Get a Chilton's manual or equivelant and look at setting up the timing chain. It's a matter of counting teeth and getting the chain set right on the sprocket.

It's going to be hard for us to help you without you being able to reference a manual and you need a basic operational understanding of these engines.

I have a haynes manual that ive been following. Its got me this far without issues.

My only fear is that the crank moved slightly without the cam attached and broke something. Id like to know if there is any wiggle room or not.

You can still turn either the crank or the cam but do it slowly and if you feel resistance, stop.

If your new chain does not have any 'bright links' , then you need to--put a dob of paint,white is good, on a link, then, including that link, count 22 links and paint that link. Then get #one piston at TDC. This will put a small centre punch mark on the crank sprocket at about 3 oclock. Hold the timing chain out and notice 24 spacings and white marks need to be to your right. With this in mind, fit the cam sprocket to the chain, lining the number 1 timing mark on the sprocket with the top paint mark on the chain. Then fit the chain around the bottom sprocket, so the bottom paint mark on the chain, lines with the mark on the crank sprocket. Then fit the cam sprocket to the nose of the camshaft. There is a small mark in the top cutout of the sprocket. It should line up with a mark on the plate behind the sprocket. If this all lines up, that is your cam timing done. Fit the adjuster and guide. Bolt everything up. Then oil pump and dissy timing.

Edited January 16, 201213 yr by olzed

Thank you, I dont feel so worried anymore. So I did have a little wiggle room then.

im just stuck waiting until Thursday for my parts to arrive.

Don't panic. You can do this. It's really not too difficult. Haynes manual will get you there.

Edit error previous post. Should have read 22 link plates including the painted ones. 20 link plates between the painted ones.

Edited January 16, 201213 yr by olzed

Glad to hear you have a manual and it sounds like you have time to study it before the parts come. Yes you have wiggle room. I would suggest that you pull all of your spark plugs to make the engine as easy to turn over as possible. When you do get things put back together or when you do move the crank-it will be easy to tell if you are having any issues of valves running

into pistons.

Yes, good advice.

Glad to hear you have a manual and it sounds like you have time to study it before the parts come. Yes you have wiggle room. I would suggest that you pull all of your spark plugs to make the engine as easy to turn over as possible. When you do get things put back together or when you do move the crank-it will be easy to tell if you are having any issues of valves running

into pistons.

Just lined everything up and everything turned with minimal effort so i.think im in the clear

Good stuff.

got my chain and tensioner installed correctly, just trying to get the damn oil pan back on. that gasket wants to move around everywhere >_<

anyway, one question.

do I install my distributer at TDC or 5deg BTDC?

because at 5deg BTDC the pulley lines up at the 0 marker, and at TDC it's not on the scale it's 5deg off.

Edited January 18, 201213 yr by Milenko2121