97 Cams and timing, Remove or Repair inplace

[Samson]

Can you remove the cams, to get them welded, and replace the timing chains with the motor in place or do you have to remove the motor. Seems pretty tight, any sugestions.
I have a spare motor that I need to tear down and see whats wrong with it. Hopefully will get one out of the two.

 

[tardboy21]

have the cams spun in both? If the one in place still runs properly, then they can be welded in place. Unsure about replacing the timing chain in place, not sure you really need to unless it broke. I don't think they really wear out too quickly.

 

[Samson]

I got the car with the motor not running, car came with one from a wrecked 99, I had that put in with no problems till now, it runs fine but has started to chatter and dosent sound good so I parked it. I didn't know about the cam issue till I found this website. I'm afraid it may have spun a cam a little bit. I really didnt want to pull the motor again if I can do it in the car unless it's a big headache.

 

[bacernate]

If the car ran ok when you shut it down a skilled welder should be able to fix a loose gear in the car.

 

[ThatShoGuy]

just wanted to add may help my car cam failed and i had all 4 cams welded out side of the car because the heads where being fixed while the cams were being welded. i did all the install work my self. you can line the cams and the crank while the motor is in the car. but it isnt that easy i learned the hard way to make sure its right b4 starting it becasue i had to pull it all apart again and send the heads out because it was installed out of time. mind you this is 6years ago when i first go the car and didnt know anything about a sho. now that i look back it wasnt that hard to do the main timing chain in the car the only thing i say IS MAKE SURE ITS IN TIME.alot of people on here feel you should weld a cam that failed. well mine is welled and has a good 30k on it. tho sounds like yours has came lose and you parked it right away. also alot of people feel you should ONLY weld your cams while in the car. mine wasnt. not to say you wouldnt have an issue but this is my experience with my cams.

OH yea btw my USE had gaskets and Bolts are still kickin with 19k on them! idk if they can still be gotten today but if you have to pull your heads.



also these heads and cam and all the other parts have been mated to two other short blocks since. right now has the NOS with 19k miles on the block 40k on the trans rebuild and 119***miles on the body.