Cam drive and lube

[Richard McDonel]

Two concerns regarding the 240Z head.

First is the camshaft oil delivery bar. When I took it apart, there were gaskets between the bar and the mounting / oil-feed points. I have two engine gasket sets, and there are no gaskets for this in either set. I don't need them? Liquid gasket material is of course an option, but it's easy to see how a drop of the stuff could get into the passage. Suggestions?

Second is the cam drive gear. I've set the dowel on on the right hole, and snugged up the bolt, but there is rotational play around the axis of the dowel pin. I would have thought the bolt would center the gear. I'm sure that once I torque the bolt, I won't be able to shift the gear around by hand, but will things be different at 5,000 rpm? Am I missing a part here?

Many thanks.

[Zed Head]

You most likely don't need them. You could have a big leak and still maintain pressure in the bar.

Do you mean rotational play around the sprocket bolt center? That would change cam timing, but +/- 1 or 2 degrees probably wouldn't be a huge deal. The adjustment holes are 4 degree increments, so Nissan expects a 4 degree range over the life of one adjustment cycle. The bolt is supposed to supply the clamping force to stop slippage, not the dowel. The dowel's purpose is probably locating the sprocket and stopping it from moving while tightening the bolt. If you want to get fairly exact on cam timing you can line up the notch and groove, then tighten the sprocket bolt.

[Mark Maras]

I faced the same gasket dilema on mine. I assembled the oil bar with no gaskets and started it up and watched it drool oil out the wrong places. Flow to the cam was OK but I'd rather have all the oil go to the valve train so I went with my old stand-by, a cereal box. Take the caps off the oil bar and press the inside of a small piece of the cardboard against the oily opening on the oil bar.The cardbord should have a pattern that can be cut out, A paper punch makes the holes look good. Sealed mine up and now I feel better. I'm sure there are better materials around but I always have had a ceral box on hand. I've never had one fail. Various previous uses; Fuel pump mounting, Thermostat housing, SU float bowl cover, GMC 671 blower to manifold. Put a little grease on them before installation. Mark in Portland

[marvelous240Z]

I second Mark's suggestion and have read a lot of posts where paper gaskets come in handy for the applications Mark listed above. Cereal box is probably perfect but any thin piece of cardboard will suffice.

Matt

[240260280z]

Use Rice Krispies for Asian Cars and Muselix or Alpen for European cars (except Lucky charms for DeLoreans).

[Bonzi Lon]

I've used a MSA postcard for the gaskets from the balance tube to the intakes.

Bonzi Lon