Is there enough interest for me to design cam locks for the 246 engine? I just received eMAIL asking about cam locks for the 246. Here are the questions & my responses: > > It has been years since I have set cam timing on a 246 would > locking the cams help when pinning the cam gears? > YES: That's exactly where a cam lock of greatest benefit. Once you've got a cam perfectly timed, you don't want it to move while fighting with pinning the cam gear & installing the timing chain or belt. > Could the 2V-308 cam holding tool be used or modified to be used on a 246 engine? DOESN'T LOOK SO: The 2V 308 cam lock works by clamping on the cams just behind the cam gear mounting flange. On the 2V engines, there's about 5/8" of the cam exposed between the front of the cam seal & the rear of the cam gear mounting flange. See the pictures in the newest post to this Fchat thread: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=136366773 The 4V engine's rear bank has enough cam exposed so that the 2V style cam design could be used, but there's only about a 3/16" or maybe 1/4" gap between the front bank cam seal & the cam gear mounting flange. Best concept I've come up with for clamping the front bank cams is to make the tool out of about 3/16" Al. One of the constraints I've placed on the 4V design is that I want the tool to be usable w/o removing the cam covers. 246 CAM LOCK: Unfortunately, I don't have access to a 246 engine, and am not very familiar with it. I just browsed the 246 engine on the Ferrari.uk web site. It looks like the 246 cam mounting flange fits right up against the front cam journal. Is this correct, or if some of the cam is exposed, how long is the available section of CAM? However, the 246 cam cover must be removed to access the cam gears so there may be other places the cam could be clamped. I'd certainly be interested in developing a 246 cam lock. I'd need pictures of the front & rear bank cams in the head, and then precise measurements of the most promising areas. If anyone has pictures, please post them, or links to them. One approach that comes to mind would be to make a tight fitting cam journal cap out of nylon, delrin, or Aluminum. The cap would be an interference fit on the cam, however, pictures may reveal other possibilities. Do enough of you do your own service to make this interesting?
I'm out. I don't dig that deep into motors. (Don't be misled by my avatar.) I'm mostly a wax the car, clean the interior, fix the trim bits kind of guy. Dave M.
I would be very interested in those cam locks. I am going to pull my engine this Fall & want to take everything apart. I really dont think it needs much but I am interested in doing it as a project. So yes- count me in!
While a new tool sounds like a good idea, I have found that a simple business card, or playing card, gently clamped in one or two of the cam journals (on the cam, under the journal cap) is more than sufficient for holding the cams while the dowels are inserted. Care is taken in tightening the 10mm cap nuts snug enough to clamp the cam and prevent rotation, but not so tight as to crack the cap. It really is pretty simple. If your tool proves to be a better mousetrap, count me in. Jim S.
