cam tower

[dutchdriver]

What gasket is located under the cam tower. I know its not the head gasket. the picture of a gasket rebuild kit shows the 2 gaskets (one for intake and 1 for exhaust) but I cant find out is they are avail seperatly and also can I remove the cam tower to replace them with out any problems? What I have is an oil leak out of the exhaust side that runs down the exhaust manifold and I can see it boiling above #4 manifold. thanks

[AZ79]

Yes, each cam tower has a gasket under it where it mates to the head.

[BEEK]

the gaskets themselves are not to hard to replace, but!

1. when replacing the cam housing gaskets you need to replace the timing belt, as you have it off, might as well replace the front seals, since the timing belt is off, now check the tensioner.

2. when replacing the cam housing gaskets you will have to adjust the valves, as the clearance will not be the same, even if you keep all the shims in the same order.

dont let me discourage you from doing this. it is not real hard, but be prepared and do all of the necessary things while in there. the bigest problems you will probably find is removing the crank nut and adjusting the valves, unless you already have a shim assortment and tool

[dutchdriver]

thanks!

[dutchdriver]

where can I get a variety of shims?

[azruss]

Ace is the keeper of the loaner collection and he is out bicycling the western world, so may be hard to get ahold of. I mic'd mine and did the math on what i needed and ordered them from Vicks. they were just a couple of bucks each and now i can add my old ones to my collection.

[dutchdriver]

thanks for the response but who is vick and what is his site? correct me if Im wrong but I cant determine the size of shim needed until I install the new gasket, install the tower, remove the old shim and then measur the gap correct?

[narfire]

I cant determine the size of shim needed until I install the new gasket, install the tower, remove the old shim and then measur the gap correct?

Kinda sorta.... put it all back together, torqued to spec.
Measure the gap in all the valves and write them down. What is the difference between what you have and what is spec. write that down for each valve. For the valves that are not on spec, take the shim out and micrometer measure the thickness and write that down. What is the difference between what you have and what you need is added or subtracted from the shim thickness you just took out and a shim of that derived thickness is what you need to get on spec.
If you have IAP's cataloge, they have a table where if you set it up the same way, the mucking about with the clearences is relatively straight forward, just a bit time consuming the first few times.
Just hope #4 exhaust is on spec as it is a bit fiddley because of the dist gear.

[htchevyii]

I think that I remember reading that the gaskets crush some if left overnight, so it might be worth waiting to measure.

[azruss]

Vicks Auto. like IAP, they do fiat and alfa parts. As you gasket compresses, it will lower the valve gap, so judge your shims to be at the max end of the tolerences.

[dutchdriver]

Thanks! will keep in touch as job progresses