Where to Buy Cam Lock Tool?

I was looking at the catalog at Unobtanium Supply but did not see a cam locking tool in there. I remember Verrell made this tool out of oak and some long bolts.

Does anyone know where I can buy one, or have the directions on how to make one?

 

he still makes them.

 

Brown tool supply or Aircraft Spruce should have it. Are you talking about the pliers?

 

Verell has them in stock. Just give a call or email him.

 

here are two versions

pics should be enough, no real need for detailed instructions. 3/4" wide piece of oak or maple. rough profile/diameter of the the cam pulleys on the ends and a couple holes in the middle with bolts. The two hole version is more complicated because you'd need to know the exact diameter of the cam shaft and undersize the holes so when you tightened it, it would provide clamping pressure on the shafts. You'd obviously need to know the cams center to center measurement too.
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Ebay, there are many universal CAM locking tools available that will work and cheaper

 

This I made for my QV
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Still in the catalog - see pg 18 & in stock.

That's correct, while they look simple, there's a lot of precision machining involved. I make them on a milling machine using a pair of custom sized boring tools for the cam hole & clearance for the hex on the later cams. For a proper fit the hole center-center distance must be held to ~0.1mm!

Have you ever actually successfully used one of those universal tools on a 308?
If so, which one as I've never found one that would fit & I've tried several. Problems are:
1)the 308 cam gears are quite a bit closer together & smaller diameter than those used on most engines, so the so called universal tools don't fit.
2)The 'universal' tools are designed to grip the newer curved profile belt teeth, they don't properly grip the old style trapezoidal profile teeth used on the 308 cam gears.

 

When I did my belts a few years ago, I made my own cam locking tool (see picture). If you cannot make up something similar yourself then perhaps you should question whether you are cut out for any engineering tasks

Whether they are necessary is another question, I suspect that the camshafts don't spin that freely so are unlikely to be change position provided you are careful - but needless to say I didn't want to take that risk on my first belt change.
Also should they move, I'd like to think that it doesn't require NASA trained engineers to put them back in the right position.
Whilst I'm on my hobby horse, once the belts are all done, manually turning the engine with a 35mm socket on the crankshaft would surely highlight if you had made a mistake without destroying the engines top end?
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The most useful tool for a belt change is 2 of these for clipping the new belt to the pulleys while refitting the tensioner.
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Local sporting good store if you absolutely need one. Just cut a hockey puck in half and drill hole through the inverted pieces connect with bolt and tighten. Otherwise paint a line through the wheels off center so cams can only line up one way. Use nail polish or something fairly perm. No locks necessary.

 

Works like a champ!
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That's what we use, too. Very easy, effective, and cheap.