RE: Cam Swaps

[QSHIPQ@aol.com]

Huw,
I believe you to mean the camshaft journal caps when referrring to swapping
cams.  The caps should stay in the exact position you took them out, oriented
in the exact position in which you took each out.  Failure to do this will
result in cracking of the cap.  The journal caps should stay with the head it
came with.  Failure to do this can create a misaligned cam journal, either
destroying the head, cracking the (swapped) journal cap, and/or accelerating
wear on the journals.   IOW, since you can only "swap" half of the journal,
don't.   Since the caps and the lower journals are machined together during
production, they should remain together during the head life.  Changing cams
doesn't change this.

If a cap has been cracked, you can install a used cap from another head, but
you should have the journals remachined, btdt.  

Major tip changing cams:  IF you are leaving the distributor in the head while
swapping cams, make sure to wiggle the dist shaft while cranking down on the
last cam cap.  Failure to do this will jam the cam and dist gear, creating a
annoying ticking noise for the rest of the life of the car.  If you are
unsure, pull the dist out of the head, and redo tdc.  You should have some
play in the dist gear on cam install, if you can't wiggle the dist gear at
all, you jammed it.  

HTH

Scott Justusson
QSHIPQ@aol.com
'87 5ktqwRS2
'84 Urq