The Cams Are In!!

[MikeBlueP5]

I bought the cams from srmotorsports.com, started the install yesterday, the 11th, took me till today the 12th, only because i started at 5pm yesterday and couldnt get the damn crank pulley off, so today i went and picked up a nice new craftsman compressor and impact. Got started at about 5ish, finished right at 9. Install wasnt hard, the hardest part is getting that damn crank pulley bolt out. If you dont have air, then i suggest getting the SST from the dealer. I took a few pics when i first got started, not too many once i got pissed with the pulley. I will write up a how-to. But lemme warn you. DONT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE AT LEAST A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE VALVETRAIN AND TIMING. THIS IS A MUST. Be on the lookout for a how-to here soon. Gonna take me a few days cause im still gettin ready for NOPI.
Thanks guys!
Mike

 

[seakrait]

sweet! i've been thinking about doing this (hesitating only due to the fact that i've only received my p5 quite recently)......

let us know how the cams work out!

 

[MikeBlueP5]

will do and just to let you know mine is only 25k miles young, i was almost in tears tearing into such a new engine. There was hardly any signs of the damn thing ever being ran. The cams looked like they have been in for like 12 miles, and there is no oil stains, and or sludging whatsoever. I was quite proud when i tore into it. I am happy with the whole deal so far, but i have only logged 2 miles or so. LOL Ill post when i get more miles on em and can really lay into it. Im gonna take it easy for a couple hundred miles. Then ill do some damage, i am trying to get a header like razors, but i dont know when that will happen. I am interested to see the gains from both.

 

[AnthonyO3]

the cams are a awesome deal, i have the MazdaSpeed intake and exhaust cam, and they are worth every penny. The install wasnt that hard,the hardest thing was getting the cam gears to line up. As long as you can get the I and the E on the cam gears to line up you pretty much have nothing to worry about. Also the camshaft caps, make sure that you have them all in order by their number on top, and bolt them down to the correct amount of torque. I think it's 10lbs of torque. Any other questions just let me know.

 

[twilightprotege]

well done mikebluep5! i'm going to do my cams next saturday (20th). i'm picking up my cams on tuesday (my own specs - higher than mazdaspeed/j-spec)

how did you go with valve clearence? no worries? my car has about 29000miles on the clock so i'm hoping not to have any issues there.

 

[purePro5]

When trying to loosen the crank bolt without a compressor: Jack up the car, take off the wheel and the splashguard. Put a ratchet on the bolt and lower the car down enough where the ratchet is on the ground. Just bump the ignition and the torque from the motor will break the bolt loose. Just another option for people who don't have all the proper tools.

 

[MikeBlueP5]

twilight, my clearance was still good. As long as you use the same base circle then you should be good. I had about 10 thousands on each of mine.

Purepro, I would have tried that, but i had already taken out the old cams, put the new ones in and i didnt feel like bending a valve. I didnt want to take the cams back out, so i just went and bought a compressor and some air tools.

 

[twilightprotege]

mike that's good to know. i'm getting mine ground to the same base circle. i'm going to measure clearence of the original cams first just so i have a reference and than swap one cam at a time

 

[MikeBlueP5]

another thing, i wouldnt follow the shop manual to a T if thats what you are going to go by. I didnt take out the enigine mount or any of that s***. Just the valve cover, the upper and lower timing belt covers, water pump pulley, crank pulley, both belts, all the ignition s*** of course, and hmm i think thats it. Oh and dont forget your engine assembly lube, dont trust oil, it doesnt stay in the journals long enough, its too thin. As for checking the lash i did mine before and after the install, and it was pretty much the same. The first time i checked mine was right when i started the install with a hot engine (lol i never wait for cooldown on anything) and it was way off. I Knew that i had to check it when cold, but i said wtf, just for s**** and giggles. I was getting like 13 thousands and s*** like that. But when cold it was all good. And hey if you need anything lemme know. I am here to help.
Mike

 

[twilightprotege]

yeah i didnt plan on following the shop manual perfectly. i had a look through it and thought it was a little over the top - i'm mainly using it for torque specs etc

i assume you bought sealant for around the cams where the head cover sits? did you buy new cam oil seal as well?

 

[MikeBlueP5]

nope didnt use any silicon or anything around the #1 cam caps, and i also reused the cam seals, they should still be good with 2x,xxx miles on them. Unless you just want to replace them i wouldnt. I didnt use any sealant around them cause i didnt feel it was necessary, you will see when you open her up. And another thing is you dont want any of that s*** getting in the head. its not pretty. If i do see/develop a leak, then yeah i will put some on there.

 

[twilightprotege]

cool, good to know i dont need to get anything before i tackle the cam swap...but atleast there's an auto store 300m from my house (gotta love that...pitty it's name is Super Cheap....but atleast they get some 1/2 decent stuff there...but mainly crap).

the only thing i'm a tiny bit worried about is the valve clearance, but from what you said i'd be pretty sure i'd be right. i guess i could always just keep the new cams in and get new valve shims in a week or two to keep the clearance perfect....would love to have 0.009" clearance ofcourse (more valve lift), but we cant have everything.

i'm going to run the cams in atleast 500k's before i open it up. got two 200k trips coming up within a week of installing the cams at highway speeds so that'll be a good run in period, then i'll give the engine a bit of gas and see how they go. will get a dyno run shortly after. then this time next month....head work will be done! yay!!!