Stuck End-Of-Camashaft Pulley Bolt

Dave-
I just had mine off to degreee the cams with new seals, belts and tensioner bearings. Here is the tool I used to remove the bolts, I also used a 6-point socket, but with a 1/2" drive breaker bar. The tool came with a 2V GTB carb I had years ago...the PO was a industrial designer and tool maker. PM if I can help...
Paul
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

it is right hand thread. I am surprised the 1/2 inch impact gun did not make easy work of that.

 

We all presume you bent the locking tabs out of the way? Just saying...

 

With two people, one holding the cam, you might put an old belt on the gear, tight all around then put the point where they come together tightly into a vice, rock it in the direction the it will want to lean so it doesn't torque all over the place.

Just a thought, use at your own risk. I pulled and reinstalled my gears in car.

 

Dave-

Which belt kit are you going to use?

Thanks,
Tom B

 

Dave.

Things like this are certainly a disappointment when your trying not to damage anything, especially, when you think your technique/procedure is correct and should do the job.

I agree with you that an impact wrench should be the correct tool and procedure.

Different brands of air driven impact wrenches have a fairly wide range of maximum torque values at a given air pressure, based on rotation speed and the number of impacts per revolution.

Check you air tool on the net and see how much torque it is rated at 125 PSI, and compare it to some other 1/2" tools.

Also, if the camshaft has any rotational vector at all, it will decrease the available (or usable) torque of the tool. I think that is part of the benefit Paul's custom tool and what PV was referring to, i.e., loss of torque actually applied to the bolt.

Before you cut up your parts I would try to get a bit more torque applied to the bolt. Maybe, a stronger air tool or air pressure. It is a sufficiently large bolt that removal impact torque should not damage it.

Good luck,
DRG

 

You MIGHT TRY Dave Helms.

He has developed a tool made especially for this that will hold the pully solid so the bolt can be removed from ANY cam gear withour damaging the toothed pully.

I have one headed my way as I am changing out my cam pullies for one-piece solid billet aluminum toothed gears made here in Germany that perfectly match the OEM ones.


Have the round toothed pilly/gear set too but I'll do those at a later date, like when I change out the sodium valves in a couple of years.

 

My '82 308 has a hex cast into the cam between the pulley and the seal - makes it easy to hold....

 

Impact gun performance can be greatly affected by the air hose length.

A 5-6' pipe extending the handle of a breaker bar will give more loosening torque than an impact gun but steady pressure has greater likelihood of breaking the bolt head off than the impacts.

 

I have had very good luck with 1/2 inch Ingersol Rand. Don't go cheap on this one.

 

+1

Extremely good insight/advice regarding a breaker/cheater bar being more likely to break off the bolt head. Been there, done that. A bolt broke off in the shaft would be a very difficult extraction. You don't even want to think about having to doing that.

If you decide to use an extended breaker bar, I would use some serious torch heat, more than a butane type torch. I have had some great successes with torch heat, but that would be my absolute last resort. The camshaft is likely heat treated for surface hardness and I would think too much heating may have a negative effect on the bearing or lobe surfaces.

Hang in there,
DRG

 

Is the impact gun rated for 200lbs both forwards AND backwards?

Some have more "put on" force than "take off" force.

My CH Impact gun is rated for about 200lbs. It has 3-settings for putting stuff on, but only one for taking off.

I could not get a bolt to budge off with it once, then I took my brothers IR impact gun which has 3-settings for on and off and it came loose right away. And it was not rated much higher than mine if at all.

Try a different gun before you take extreme measures.

Also, are you sure the belt was not damaged by the vice itself when you tighened it? It would not take much to tear the rubber belt if it was already damaged by locking it into the vice.

 

Off topic but looking at the pics you really can see the difference between the FI and Carb Cams. Wow!!!

 

I would buy a better impact. Also if you know someone with a lathe you can lock the cam in the chuck while you hit it with the impact.

It doesn't help you now but I made some very effective tools for removing and installing this bolt. I like that tool that grips the o.d. of the pulley. I came up with something a bit simpler that may be just as practical.

On the carb cams there are no hex's to grab. There is an extra hole in the flange of the cam that is maybe for a factory tool??? ... I made a "spanner" that picks up this hole and the o.d. of the cam ... you rotate the engine and the spanner locks against the adjacent cam. I made one for tightening and one for loosening, although I think one tool could be made and the pin pushed thru either side to reverse the direction that takes the load.

I'm going to take some pics of things today. I'll post some of these tools if you guys want.

cheers

 

I've a had couple give me hard time, had them spend a day in the sonic tank and then hit it with the IR 1/2" and they spun right out. The cams are hollow and gunk can set up in the threads.

I was also told of another great idea by a chatter here, boiling water. you could try pouring boiling water over the cam/pulley end and then using a freeze off spray on the bolt itself.

make sure the locking tab of the washer is out of the way too, or it'll never come off.

 

Several options. 1- take the cam to a engine rebuild shop and have them put it into their cleaning tank for a few days. 2- support the cam so the pulley end is down and spray Kroil into the cam's oil journal holes. Repeat spraying with Kroil for a few days. This will allow the penetrating oil do work its way down the treads. Everytime you pass the cam, tap it lightly for a few minutes. Finally, hit the pulley bolt with the impact gun. (This worked for me a few years ago.) Good luck.

 

Hi Dave,

I have just experienced the same stuck bolts. @#$% bastard things they are !

The bolts are not left hand thread.

I did not own an impact wrench before I got to these bolts. I left the camshafts installed in the engine. It's surprising that the impact wrench does not try to turn the engine while blasting away.

I (gently) put some little g-clamps on the belts to clamp them to the pulleys. This is not to prevent the engine from turning , , , it's just to stop the pulley and or belt flying off once the bolt comes loose.

I used a 1.375" open ended spanner to hold the hex on the end of the camshaft to stop the camshaft from turning. I also made a U shaped spacer about 5/16" thick so that the spanner stayed on the hex portion of the camshaft.

I bought a 730 ft/lb impact wrench which I thought would be an overkill ..... I was very wrong.
Although working pressure was advertised as 90psi my compressor goes up to 120psi. I started it un-doing , , and it went , , and went, , , and went ............ In total it took about 3 minutes to get the bolts to loosen.
When they do loosen the bolts will fly right out no matter how quick you think you can lift off the trigger.

Let me know if you have any questions mate.


........... I have added another thread on lock tabs if anyone can please please please help me.

 

Words of wisdom there. From the movie Jaws, "I think we're going to need a bigger boat."