Yoeasy69's 383 Build

[Phantom409]

Understandable on doing it for assurance - I guess my real question is have you ever had to adjust the degree of the cam? And if you did, how have you done it? Drill a hole in the timing cover and then use an adjustment plug? Just trying to understand what it is ya do.

And what I said about the #6 thing was right - When the crank dot is at 12 o'clock, #6 and #1 are both at TDC. When you put the cam's dowel pin at 3 o'clock (which makes the cam gear at 6 o'clock), you're on #6 firing when the optispark is placed onto the camshaft dowel.

I'm not going to nit pick her but when I do it according to the manual and instructions from the cam company's I' fire #1 1st ALL the time.

If I'm off a significant amount then I screwed up some where with TDC on #1 and have to go back and redo it.
I have never been off more than + or - 1* with all new components.

No, you do not drill holes in anything, it would be imposable to get it right with out some serious skill and a steady hand.

If you want adjustability you would have to buy a timing set with different notches in it on the crank to advance or retard the timing.

On the LT1's that have the pin driven opti it's way easier to do because the 93's drive the opti through a spline in the big timing gear.
You would just have to eliminate the water pump drive and put an electric water pump on.

If the cam is off more than 2* you can offset the timing marks just a touch.
1 tooth = 2* on a timing set.
If you use an old timing set that has slop in it that is what you would run into.
Then you are splitting the difference in the slop in the timing set.

It is possible to line your dots up wrong if you don't find the center of rotation or TDC right.
Then, yes it's possible to advance the cam with out knowing it but how much??
You would never know unless you degreed your cam.

You all might think I'm smoking crack here but any engine shop will degree a cam, it's the right way to do it IMO.

If I do a motor for anyone on here it will be degreed, no questions asked!

And B, if you are setting your timing by pictures your playing with fire even though I know that's how you did it.
Pictures are a reference and should never be taken a the bible on how things should be.
But that's my opinion too.


I hope I answered your question?

[meissen]

Thanks for the clarification, Kyle. Was mostly just curious how it's done. No clue how you're doing it with having #1 firing since the dot to dot method puts it at #6 but what you do works and what I do works so it's all good.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

dot to dot is not the "wrong way" Brian but other than having your cam checked by a shop with a Cam Doctor there is no other way of telling if its ground properly than installing it and degreeing it.

[meissen]

Oh yeah, I'm not disputing that. I'm saying if you put it dot to dot then the cam is firing on #6.

[98blackbeauty]

everyone is saying the same thing differently because that is the way they are used to. on a 94 and up LT1 the dot to dot is 12 -6 and the cam pin is 3 Oclock. 1 and 6 are top dead center. so to put the cam in reference to the firing stroke the "book references 6 top position the next rotation of course is 1 tdc firing stroke. A 93 can be adjusted a 94-97 can not.
If you follow directions the assembly of an LT1 is almost idiot proof to get it out of time. (we did it though). the crank and the cam are set with dot to dot then the opti is set to fire in the right rotation to them by the cam dowl pin. Final timing is set electronicaly. And Kyle I agree with you it doesn't hurt to check to be sure its correct.

[Yoeasy69]

holy cow.. lol.. ok, so figured the problem out the other day.. everyone was almost right..

The Opti was indexed correctly.. all plug wires were in correct order.. everything was correct.. cept for the BRAND NEW Government motors Opti spark i bought many many moons ago...

i pulled the opti off and looked at it.. everything seemd ok, went to spin the rotor and poof instant clearification on y it would not run. the part of the shaft that the dowel sits in was pressed up against the back of the opti on on side, and about a 1/16th of an inch away from it on the other. any attempt at spinning the rotor was met with much resistence and made sounds that of a blender with bolts in it. pulled the cover off of and the rotor was shatterd and the shaft was all bent up. a quick check of the cap for caps and burns, ( which was pristeen) and a few minutes later she was running like a raped ape. with a wicked bad a** lope to it too..

btw kyle, i found a socket for the opti cover for 2.99 at autozone..

just need to get it dyno tuned now.. cause its fouling out plugs like its cool.. but take em out and clean em off and it fires right up first crank.

videos to come!

[98blackbeauty]

yep! there is a warning to check the dowel length to make sure its not to long and could cause that also. After the problem with Brians car I decided that I would never put opti on without pulling cover and holding rotor to make sure its correct. Simple little things cost u big bucks.
Glad you got it working.

[bigjon88]

Should you degree your new cam?
It isn’t absolutely necessary to degree the cam for the engine to run efficiently. COMP Cams® grinds most
of its High Energy, Magnum, and Xtreme Energy™ cams four degrees advanced. This positions the
camshaft for the best street performance. However, to assure maximum performance it is recommended to
degree the cam. The purpose of degreeing a camshaft is to correct the errors and tolerances in the machining
processes of the engine that can affect camshaft timing. COMP Cams® suggests the intake centerline
method as the most simple, quick, and efficient way to degree a new camshaft. Instructions for degreeing
can be found later in this booklet.

[meissen]

Glad to hear, Josh! Sorry that you spent $2.99 for a socket - we made the same mistake (although my dad had to buy the whole socket set) and then I found a picture on CZ28 that would accomplish undoing the bolts for about 50 cents!!!! What you do is buy a decent length bolt with a female torx head on it that's the correct size for the male torx bolts on the cover of the optispark... then a regular nut and a wing nut... the nut locks the wing nut so it can't spin on the bolt, so when you twist the wing nut, it twists the whole bolt which then turns it into an optispark cover bolt removal tool.

[Yoeasy69]

well the dowel length was correct.. but the opti was just a bad unit. the optis are identical.. before i put it all back together i did some measuring of the index hole depths and they were the same.. as well as the stock dowel and new dowel lengths. all the same.. just a bad unit. i dk..

well i changed out the plugs last night w some sweet bosch platinum 4's and seemed to take care of most of the fouling problem. it will start and idle on demand now. just after the first try it tends to studder for a second or two..

need to look for a new starter cause the stock jobby has barely enough nuts to tackle the new compression ratio.. and the force is being disurbed telling me it wont last long.. lol. whoo hoo autostoners

[Phantom409]

I heard this thing run today via the phone and all I have to say is

This thing is bad ass!!

I told Josh the same thing B but in the long run it's better to have the right tools for the job, makes life easier

[Yoeasy69]

ok. questiion...


lol..


im thinking clutch..... grrr..

low rpm and low MPH <20... the whole car chugs? i mean bad..

its a brand new Spec 2 clutch disk on a balanced flywheel and LT4 pressure plate? (valeo)

it grabs hard and smooth.. but at a maintained speed it chugs super bad..


any ideas?