Engine mod story

From: acasey@io.com
Date: Wed May 20 1998 - 19:28:59 EDT


while I was there.

Parts list (at beginning of project): Mopar heavy duty (double
roller) timing chain w/sprockets, 2030 compucam, Mopar Performance
springs and retainers, 180 degree thermostat, Intake gaskets,timing
cover gasket, thermostat gasket, and water pump gasket.

Tools: About a week prior I ordered from Miller special tools 3
tools C-3688, 6635 and C-3509. It turned out C-3509 which is the
camshaft holding tool is really not necessary. Of course it took
many sockets, wrenches, torx, screw drivers and of course a torque
wrench.

According to the manual the engine must be removed to replace the cam
shaft. I was determined to do it without pulling the motor, so I
proceeded as follows. (disconnect the battery of course)

First I removed the front bumper (for easier access, but not
necessary) then the grill. I drained the radiator and removed it,
messy but easy. The fan was the first problem, it requires a 36 mm
wrench, try finding a 36 mm wrench on a Saturday. So I borrowed a
large Crecent wrench to do the job. It only took about an 1/8 turn
to loosen it, then it cam right off by hand.
Then remove the serpentine belt.
Next I unbolted the a/c compressor from its mount and wired it back
out of the way on the passenger side.
The Alternator was next, it can be completely removed
Then power steering pump. I just unbolted it and wired it back out
of the way under the battery tray.
Then belt tensioner and idler pulley come off and finally the support
bracket. This was new to me, one single bracket for all the
accessories.
The Water pump comes off after the removal of about 7 bolts and a
little gentle prying with a screw driver.
Special tool C-3688 is needed for vibration damper removal (I am sure
any balancer remover tool would probably work.)
The crankshaft oil seal is removed with a screwdriver
Now the next problem. To remove the timing cover. First the oil pan
must be dropped slightly then the cover gently removed so as not to
damage the oil pan gasket. The problem is the factory uses silicone
on the oil pan gasket so it sticks to the timing cover. I was unable
to get the cover loose without damaging the oil pan gasket slightly.
Fortunately I think I was able to repair the tear in the oil pan
gasket with some sealant. Hopefully it holds. So far so good.
After getting the cover off I was suprised at how much slop the old
chain had. I could just about get the chain off without removing the
sprokets. I guess it was just a matter of time before it would have
gone. 92,000 miles.
I then took off the throttle body, hoses electrical connections,
distributor, thermostat, etc.
Then the Intake comes off. I did this to fix a rear intake gasket
leak. The new intake gasket set from Dodge are different from stock
and also come with new longer intake manifold bolts. Evidently
front and rear intake seals are known for leaking, and this is to
correct that.
I then removed the rocker arms, pushrods and lifters so that I could
remove the cam.
The Camshaft sprocket comes off, behind that is a thrust plate with a
chain oil tab, pretty cool. I then used the sprocket bolt to get a
grip on the camshaft and gently slid it out.
The New camshaft goes in just like the old one came out, with some
moly lube of course. It took several tries because of the
distributor / oil pump shaft sprocket. The slot in the middle of
that sprocket has to point at the number 1 position and the camshaft
sprocket-crankshaft sprocket must line up for top dead center (the
two dots must face each other). Since the oil pump shaft sprocket is
diagonally splined it took a few attempts to get the two locations
pointing at the right thing at the same time.
Now for the next problem. I rented a valve spring compressor to
remove the valve springs but all but 4 of the old retainers had grown
to the keepers. I tapped on the top of the valve stems as hard as I
dared with a hammer but since that meant the valve itself was hitting
the top of the piston, I gave up after a couple of hours of fighting
with it.
So I had to take the heads off to get better leverage against the
stubborn retianers.
I placed a board under the head (pinston side) while laying on the
floor and beat the hell out of the valve stem while the spring
compressor had the spring completely compressed. No Go. In fact I
bent 2 of the valves trying this.
So, there was no other choice, an unplanned valve job. In fact the
shop I took the heads to had to cut the old valve stems off, they
could'nt get any of the retainers to separate from the keepers. I
guess thats one of those dodge perks. Well good excuse for a 3 angle
valve job and new valves :)
When I got them back I went about putting the heads back on, Of
course I had to purchase a set of head gaskets from the local dealer.
This was happening on a Friday afternoon, so I had all weekend to get
the truck back together. Well to my horror, upon opening the head
gasket package there was only one gasket and it was damaged to the
point it could not be used. I called back down to the dealer and
raised hell, but they did'nt have any more and could'nt get anymore
for 3-4 business days. I called all over town and found a shop 30
miles away that had a set. So at 4:00 pm I am up against rush hour
traffic trying to get there before the place closes at 5:00. (Why do
I always have to do everything the hard way?)
Mission accomplished, I had 2 gaskets that were in good shape.
Everything went back together just the way it came off with no other
misshaps. I had it all put back together by noon the next day.
About 8 hours worth of reasembly work, not bad. What helped me is I
labled every wire with masking tape during disasembly and put all
bolt and screws in individual labled zip lock bags. Since I did not
get to put it back together for 4 days while waiting on the heads
this was a life saver. My short term memory ain't what is used to
be.

I filled all the fluids and drove it on the highway varying rpm above
2000 for 30 minutes, drained and filled it with new oil and was done.
A couple of weeks later I was at the track.

I am pleased with the hp gains even though I thought I would have had
a little more, but I am disappointed that I did'nt get more torque.
As some of you may remember I lost torque when I put my Crower 1.7
roller rockers on, then I lost more torque when I installed a high
flow cat onto my current flowmaster cat back exhaust system. Well I
was hoping with the new mods it would deliver some of that torque
back. I talked to a guy at the track that had a dak with DT headers,
he was real happy with their performance but he did admit it cost him
a little torque. At this point thats something I can't sacrifice any
more of. I pull a very heavy boat when I am not hot rodding and the
torque loss shows its ugly head when I hit the hills. Oh well, all
in the name of speed.
Other than some tires for traction, I think I am done with mods on my
Dak.

Sorry so long, let me know if I can help or answer any questions any
of you might have about doing similar mods. I also have those
special tools if anyone needs to borrow them, provided I get them
back of course.

Alan...
George West, TX

94' V8, SLT, MP SBEC, Flowmaster, SureGrip, Pulley's, MSD, Super
Street TBI, Crower 1.7 Roller Rockers, Mopar Performance spings,
Crane 2030 compucam.



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