Need some assistance/advice on the 248/232 swap.

[Jagstang]

So I made an impulsive purchase, and bought an S13 248 exhaust cam, and i'm planning on doing the 248/232 cam swap on my S14. Here's the thing, I just got home from buying it, and decided i'll want to do it tomorrow and have the car ready for work on Monday.

So anyways, I'll be doing as much searching as possible for the swap, but if you guys have some experiences/advice/warnings on the swap, I'm all ears! If I have any questions, i'll post it up. Thanks a lot.

[Razi]

I know you have to skip a few teeth or something.

All I know is this thread has a ton of info:
my-comments-on-248-240-s13-cam-swap-t152578.html

I think the last few pages had a few tips on install, but I'm not sure haha.

[Jagstang]

I had a quick question, can I do the swap and use a permanent marker/felt to keep track of where everything was timed etc, or a timing light is NEEDED?

[Razi]

No idea.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable with this swap can chime in.

A timing light to check your timing won't hurt though.

[-RJ-]

I hope someone with more info does chime in. I've been wanting to do this for a while now and op should sell me his 232 cam

[Jagstang]

Thanks a lot for the response Razi. But damn, this whole swap is a mess. Seems pretty random. Am I supposed to do the Ignition Timing too after the swap? Or just rotate the cam 4 teeths CCW (counter clockwise)?

[SX APPEAL]

4 teeth CCW and you're good to go, nothing else is required. No need to adjust your ignition timing. I've been running this setup for over two years now. Its gonna sound different to, higher pitched, more like a honda. But it'll pull better in the upper revs and I like the sound anyway

Just make sure your cams looks like this:


with the front lobes of each cam pointing directly away from each other with cylinder #1 at TDC compression

[Jagstang]

4 teeth CCW and you're good to go, nothing else is required. No need to adjust your ignition timing. I've been running this setup for over two years now. Its gonna sound different to, higher pitched, more like a honda. But it'll pull better in the upper revs and I like the sound anyway

Just make sure your cams looks like this:


with the front lobes of each cam pointing directly away from each other with cylinder #1 at TDC compression

Thanks a lot for the reply dude! But if you retard the cam, shouldn't you advance the ignition timing a bit? Technically, it should allow it to have more of a pull top end?

[SX APPEAL]

You have to retard the cam 4 teeth because its an exhaust cam and the lobes aren't in the same orientation as on the intake cam its replacing. So retarding it is just putting the lobes in the right place (almost) Besides, the ignition timing is controlled by the computer, so whatever you do to it, the computer is just going to compensate for it and put it wherever it wants anyway

[Jagstang]

You have to retard the cam 4 teeth because its an exhaust cam and the lobes aren't in the same orientation as on the intake cam its replacing. So retarding it is just putting the lobes in the right place (almost) Besides, the ignition timing is controlled by the computer, so whatever you do to it, the computer is just going to compensate for it and put it wherever it wants anyway

Alright, that's great to hear. Thanks! So besides the usual stuff, is there anything you could give me a warning on? Stuff to be careful with etc? Or any hidden steps most people never really mention when explaining the cam swap details?

[Razi]

I'd rotate the engine a few times by hand to make sure the valves don't hit the pistons.

[Jagstang]

Oh I had another question, when you say rotate the cam 4 teeths CCW, do I start the count as soon as I rotate it? Or is the starting position already 1? and then as soon as i rotate it it's 2? then 3, then 4? Get what i'm trying to say?

[Razi]

I'd guess the stock position would be 0.
Then you count as soon as you rotate it 1 tooth.

[numbnuts240]

I'd guess the stock position would be 0.
Then you count as soon as you rotate it 1 tooth.

this. be careful not to over torque the cam cap bolts. removed the upper timing cover and losed the chain guides if you haven't already. a marker will be fine to mark the chain and gear positions (i used white out). make note of the position of the ignition rotor (if you're pulling the timing cover) and be sure it stays in the position when you re-install the distributor.

it's an easy procedure. print out the torque specs and procedure from the fsm and have those couple of pages handy.

[LoserCard]

Yeah what everyone else here said is good. Also remember to put it at TDC before removing anything. If you know your timing is perfect, then just use a permanent marker (a fine one) on the distributer. When rotating camshaft, make sure the intake first lobe points to the 9:30 position and the exhaust first lobe points to about 2:30 position. When reinstalling the chain, from the intake sprocket timing mark WILL BE (after rotating) exactly 10 links (including the ones over the marks) from the exhaust timing mark and from there exactly 8 chain links to the idler sprocket timing mark. So chain link 1(intake mark),2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10(exhaust mark),11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18(idler sprocket mark).