davebugs Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 o.k. - so I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer. An observation. The car has 183k. Seemed like original HG's. On the side that was leaking (both cylinders) it actually seemed like the gasket wore a ring into the head enough to catch a finger nail in. I had both heads cut, steamed, etc. When the heads came back I had a friend with a spiffy Snap-on torque wrench come over for the mexican hat dance that is installing the heads on a Suby. Being in a hurry we installed the heads - with valves and spark plugs - onto the motor. I looked at it and figured that there would be no interference with the pistons so we torqued then down. They heads are both installed on the motor. Is there a problem with installing the buckets(with shims - that I marked before removal) and Cams when the head is on the motor? I realize it's not SOP - but am I screwed? If nothing else I can certainly see the cam lobes and make sure there isn't any interference between the valves on a given cylinder. A USMB member who shall remain nameless - atleast for now - was here for the dis-assembly. He's thinking that perhaps I'm screwed on the re-assembly. While not SOP I'm not sure if I really have a problem. Anyone done it this way before? I figure it's not much worse than adjusting the valves(shims) and that theoretically can be done on the car. There is no access needed to the valve side of the head for assembly it would seem. What am I missing and what should I be aware of on my first Suby head job? Other than the above I'm following the specs from the 97 FSM. Thanks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 You're doing it right. Make sure to line up the mark on crank before you put the cams in. When you put the cams in, get them close to lined up and you won't have any interference problems. If you aren't sure put the pulley on and the double marks go towards each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 You're doing it right. Make sure to line up the mark on crank before you put the cams in. When you put the cams in, get them close to lined up and you won't have any interference problems. If you aren't sure put the pulley on and the double marks go towards each other. The pistons are all roughly in the middle of the stroke. None within several inches of the end of the bore. Do I need to align using the crank? And I would assume to the usual notch as in when doing a timing belt if I do need to align using the crank? I wasn't going to put the pulley's on but just pay attention to the lobes. Putting the pulley's on may make that easier. Those cams were pretty darn tight at the front of the motor when being removed. Thanks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 They heads are both installed on the motor. Is there a problem with installing the buckets(with shims - that I marked before removal) and Cams when the head is on the motor? AFIAK this is OK. You should however recheck valve clearances after everything is assembled. Yes you can have intake to exhaust valve interference on that engine..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 The pistons are all roughly in the middle of the stroke. None within several inches of the end of the bore. Do I need to align using the crank? And I would assume to the usual notch as in when doing a timing belt if I do need to align using the crank? I wasn't going to put the pulley's on but just pay attention to the lobes. Putting the pulley's on may make that easier. Those cams were pretty darn tight at the front of the motor when being removed. Thanks, Dave You want to put the cams in with everything in the position that you install the timing belt at. Then just put belt on and nothing interferes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Cool - thanks guys. I hope to get back to this tomorrow - before the next holiday and crappy weather. Never did a TB on the 2.5 but it's marked well and I took some pics before dis-assembly. I also have the electronic version of the FSM from a link from USMB. Lots of good info here. I just sometimes have difficulties finding it. I tried searching before starting this thread tonight. Figuring some folks may do the assembly this way on purpose. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 You have no choice but the put the cams in after installing the cylinder head on the engine. The cams have to be out to get to the head bolts. When installing the cams they should be positioned so all the lobes are facing away from the lifter buckets. This way as you tighten the cam caps the lobes on the cams are not pushing on the buckets and opening valves. Once cams are in place and cam caps torqued, you can rotate ONE cam at a time to line up timing marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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