[evintho]

Thanks Ray! Can you tell me where exactly to place the cam gear for timing when I install the belt? I assume the keyway should be straight up on the compression stroke when I install it. Should I go ahead and get the stock cam gear off Ebay and set up my adjustable gear like Chip did in the video then using the string/dipstick method?
Sorry for all the dumb questions. I can fab just about anything but like I said, my troubleshooting skills are horrid!

[TurboRay]

YW, John ~ see the instructional “EDIT” I did on the previous post.  GOOD LUCK!  <thumbup>

[evintho]

OK.....got it all back together and it starts, but barely runs. I give it gas and it barely goes a couple hundred RPM past idle. Sounds like it's running on a couple of cylinders. I was super careful during reassembly. Crank at TDC (little diamond pointed towards the notch), Aux gear positioned so the rotor is pointed at #1, cam gear keyway pointed straight down and I even pulled the VC to make sure both valves were closed (compression stroke). Timing belt slipped right on. I slowly loosened the tensioner bolt so when it tensioned, there was no movement of the cam gear, at all. I then rotated two full turns with a breaker bar on the crank bolt to make sure everything was right.
One thing though.....I never touched the inner wheel of my Racer Walsh adj cam gear. It's still in the position that you see in my pic. But, if the cam gear keyway is pointed straight down that shouldn't make a difference, should it? Never did quite understand how that thing worked!
Ideas???

[dan_xr4]

With the timing belt you have control over the camshaft position relative to the crankshaft and the distributor position relative to the crankshaft.

When your engine would not start, I think that the distributor position relative to the crankshaft was too far off.

Now that your engine is starting, your distributor position relative to the crankshaft must be better.

I suspect that the camshaft timing is still off. 

Based on your picture, with the crankshaft at TDC of cylinder #1 compression, I would not expect that the camshaft sprocket key should be pointing straight down. It looks like the camshaft sprocket key should be pointing closer to the timing marker than straight down.

[TurboRay]

I HATE trying to diagnose/repair a car or engine via the internet, John ~ BUT…..let’s try it one more time. Go back and look at the first pic in post 19. The graduation lines on your vernier cam sprocket are (upside down & left-to-right) = line, line, 12……….0……….12, line, line ~ THEN, a LONG line. That long line is the timing mark that needs to align with your white-painted pointer when the crank is at TDC. IOW, it’s the same as the factory mark on a stock cam sprocket ~ which is 2 teeth counter-clockwise from the key way.

After getting THAT squared away (keyway will be straight down) throw a timing light on the running motor to set ignition timing at 10-degrees BTDC, with the SpOut plug removed. According to what I see, your cam timing is currently set at 2 (cam) degrees advance (which equals 4-degrees at the crank). If you wanna experiment with different cam settings after the engine is running again, loosen all 5 of the locking Allen bolts and turn the CRANK slowly with a wrench or socket until the vernier graduations reach the desired advance or retard, and lock it down. If better ~ GREAT…….if worse, you can always go back OR try moving it in the opposite direction. GOOD LUCK!  <thumbup>

[dan_xr4]

Sorry, my comment was totally wrong. If you follow my logic, you will be off by two teeth.

Camshaft sprocket keyway should be straight down when engine is set correctly at TDC compression cylinder #1.

Is your camshaft stock or is it big enough to bend valves when not timed properly ?

[evintho]

I HATE trying to diagnose/repair a car or engine via the internet, John ~ BUT…..let’s try it one more time. Go back and look at the first pic in post 19. The graduation lines on your vernier cam sprocket are (upside down & left-to-right) = line, line, 12……….0……….12, line, line ~ THEN, a LONG line. That long line is the timing mark that needs to align with your white-painted pointer when the crank is at TDC. IOW, it’s the same as the factory mark on a stock cam sprocket ~ which is 2 teeth counter-clockwise from the key way.

After getting THAT squared away (keyway will be straight down) throw a timing light on the running motor to set ignition timing at 10-degrees BTDC, with the SpOut plug removed. According to what I see, your cam timing is currently set at 2 (cam) degrees advance (which equals 4-degrees at the crank). If you wanna experiment with different cam settings after the engine is running again, loosen all 5 of the locking Allen bolts and turn the CRANK slowly with a wrench or socket until the vernier graduations reach the desired advance or retard, and lock it down. If better ~ GREAT…….if worse, you can always go back OR try moving it in the opposite direction. GOOD LUCK!  <thumbup>

I'll give it a shot after church today and report back.  Thanks all!

[evintho]

I rotated the crank to TDC, piston at the top of cylinder, rotor pointed to #1 and that long line on the vernier cam gear is pointed directly to the timing mark on the inner timing cover which means the cam gear keyway is pointing straight down.
Notice the black mark above the 2* advanced graduation (highlighted in black).  That's a RW installed mark on the vernier cam gear and it corresponds directly to the cam keyway, which is pointing straight down.
It looks like everything is exactly where it should be.  What am I missing?!
Maybe I should order that factory cam gear off Ebay and slap it on there!

[TurboRay]

You’re not “missing” anything, John! The way you have it set means that the cam timing is correct ~ albeit 4-degrees (crank) advanced……which is okay! If it still runs like ass…..either the ign timing is way off, which needs to be checked with a timing light, regardless of rotor-position ~ OR (gasp) you bent some valves when the t/belt slipped, due to a bigger-than-stock (interference) cam. If valves DID get bent, the motor probably cranks “wonky” (uneven), with blips in the cranking RPM. <shrug>

[evintho]

The cam is just a Ranger roller I grabbed out of the junkyard. I'm done for the day now but tomorrow I'll check timing with a light and make note of how it cranks. I really appreciate everyone's input! We'll get this figured out yet!