My first attempt at timing the LT5 camshafts

[Polo-1]

8 more hours into it and both sides done and lock in at 114 and 110.5
Next time have a helper for sure.... Someone to do the math and hold the back of the cams would be REALLY NICE.

[Polo-1]

Cardboard under the caps. After the second time, the thrid cam slipped on me. From that point cardboard under all the caps, not just one cap.
Bolts to factory spec.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by Polo-1

8 more hours into it and both sides done and lock in at 114 and 110.5
Next time have a helper for sure.... Someone to do the math and hold the back of the cams would be REALLY NICE.

Kevin,

Great news and I don't think I could do it by myself.

[Jagdpanzer]

The holds down clamps that come installed on the heads are mostly meant to hold the cams in place while the cam covers are removed. The bores are some what bigger so there is no contact with the cam journal with the cam covers installed. I made up a set of temporary hold down clamps on my lathe using 1" x 5/8" aluminum flat bar. I can post some pics of the process later if anyone is interested. Two temporary clamps are sufficent for setting the timing however, if I were short handed without someone to hold the other end of the cam, I would go with four clamps with a piece of cardboard under each one when torquing the sprocket bolt.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Marc suggests the following:
Place a piece of cardboard under one of the camshaft hold down clamps to prevent the cam from turning when tightening the cam bolt. I like to use cardboard from an oil filter box, about 1 inch wide.

Your suggestion using two cardboard shims under two camshaft hold down clamps is even better
I assume the cam hold down clamps you used are identical to the cam hold down clamps Craig was using?

......only if we can get Carter200 to make those for us
Only if Craig would send Carter200 his hold down clamps he got from Bill Kirchoffer for reverse engineering

I assume you were using two camshaft hold down clamps for each cam? It appears Craig was using four camshaft hold down clamps plus the two stock camshaft retainers for each camshaft?

I think those cam hold down clamps have a tighter clearance than the stock camshaft retainers on the camshaft you see when you remove the valve covers.

Carter and I are in discussions, but I believe another member here has someone making all the tools already. Competition is always good though to keep prices reasonable for all.