Dose anybody know if there is anywhere i can get my cams welded in the mid west( im located in Illinois)? I'd like to get them welded before i put the motor back in and im having a hard time finding someone. The list over at V8 sho.com is outdated, most of the people on the list went out of business or stopped welding cams. Thanks.
Cam welding in the midwest.
- Thread starter shoftw
- Start date
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Send a pm to user "SHOZ123". His name's Paul and he's also in Illinois, though I don't know that he checks this site very often. If you're lucky enough to hear back from him, he might give you an earful (eyeful) on things to do to the motor before reinstalling. You might want to search his posts as he was a prolific source of good info on the Gen 3 for years.
stephen newberg
SHO Member
And, though it is handy to have a welder that has done this before, it really is not a complicated job, so you can actually have just about any really decent welder do it for you. You might help things along with a welder that has not done it before by showing them the photos of completed weld jobs from V8SHO.com. And be sure to tell them the cam tubes are hollow.
pax, smn
pax, smn
luigisho
SHO Member
You on the v8 SHO mailing list? Alot of old timers that don't come on here as often may know some people. Maybe.
Also echo post above. The big caveat is, it's tough to have someone mess it up their first run through and you are stuck looking for replacements. especially if it's a daily driver
Also echo post above. The big caveat is, it's tough to have someone mess it up their first run through and you are stuck looking for replacements. especially if it's a daily driver
Yeah i want somebody that knows what their doing with my luck it's sure to turn out wrong. I'd also liked to have somebody check and make sure the cam sprocket hasn't been walking.
sperold
Last to Know
In the early years, there was a "roll pin" solution that involved pinning the gear to the shaft.
Has anyone experienced this and had good results?
To my uniformed ears, this sounds easier to perform, and easier to keep the engine clean of any debris that results.
You also don't need expensive equipment, and extensive training in welding, which is fairly rare these days.
Has anyone experienced this and had good results?
To my uniformed ears, this sounds easier to perform, and easier to keep the engine clean of any debris that results.
You also don't need expensive equipment, and extensive training in welding, which is fairly rare these days.
luigisho
SHO Member
I think there were a few failures noted with the pinned cam repair but also some welded cams were not done up to ***** and a few of those failed too. It is easier to weld the cams than to pin them. Especially if you know exactly what you are doing. I would go on the v8 sho google group and ask the old timers if they have any contacts in any particular area. If not I would road trip somewhere
stephen newberg
SHO Member
Pinning will work, but the problem is that the cams are hollow, so there is a lot less material there than one might hope for the pin to work against. Overall, I think after a bunch of people tried things back forever ago, it became obvious that a good weld job was the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable of the ways to solve the problem.
Unless you really want to try the Loctite...
pax, smn
Unless you really want to try the Loctite...
pax, smn
pmelv8sho
Member
I had somebody weld a '96 that I purchased last summer. Located in North Dakota though....not super close to IL. My '98 was welded by Kirk back in the early 2000's at Don M.'s place in Peoria. Zero issues with my '98 & the welding.
GEN 3 SHO FAN
SHO Member
I will not recommand pinning, I rode almost all cam failure reports on V8SHO.com and some were pinned, not many but some.
(I did this to find the reason why the 3.4L motors fail when the 3.0L duratech had the same assembly process for the cams without this problem. It seems to happen on front and rear cams without distinction, maybe a little bit often on rear but not so much. I had come to a theory that the reverse flow cooling (which isn't on the 3.0L) is causing importants heat changes into the heads. But it's just a theory.)
Personnaly, my mechanic never weld cams in his 37 years of career before I asked him, but he was a real good mig welder. Once all parts were unbolted, we put some tissues on the heads (to prevent dust falling into the heads) and weld the cams in place at 3-4 spot all around on each place based on the photos here and V8SHO ones which I have presented to my mechanic before the job.
If we search a mechanic with such experience, prey to live longer.
25 000 Gen 3 SHO
-10 000 cam failures (it's just an approximation)
-5 000 road accidents
-5 000 rusted as **** and crushed
-5 000 transmission probs and crushed
=??
(Ok, I'm joking a little bit.)
Just find a good and experienced mechanic (with mig or tig), life is too short.
(I did this to find the reason why the 3.4L motors fail when the 3.0L duratech had the same assembly process for the cams without this problem. It seems to happen on front and rear cams without distinction, maybe a little bit often on rear but not so much. I had come to a theory that the reverse flow cooling (which isn't on the 3.0L) is causing importants heat changes into the heads. But it's just a theory.)
Personnaly, my mechanic never weld cams in his 37 years of career before I asked him, but he was a real good mig welder. Once all parts were unbolted, we put some tissues on the heads (to prevent dust falling into the heads) and weld the cams in place at 3-4 spot all around on each place based on the photos here and V8SHO ones which I have presented to my mechanic before the job.
If we search a mechanic with such experience, prey to live longer.
25 000 Gen 3 SHO
-10 000 cam failures (it's just an approximation)
-5 000 road accidents
-5 000 rusted as **** and crushed
-5 000 transmission probs and crushed
=??
(Ok, I'm joking a little bit.)
Just find a good and experienced mechanic (with mig or tig), life is too short.
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gamefanatic
SHO Member
You forget all that Hollywood goes through or Monster Truck Rally's!If we search a mechanic with such experience, prey to live longer.
25 000 Gen 3 SHO
-10 000 cam failures (it's just an approximation)
-5 000 road accidents
-5 000 rusted as **** and crushed
-5 000 transmission probs and crushed
=??
(Ok, I'm joking a little bit.)
Totally agree any experienced welder should be able to accomplish this so long as they understand that the shaft is hollow as to not apply to much heat (voltage).
Mechanic's experience may vary, but this has affected other engines in the past, it's just not a common problem. My bro and I welded my first SHO, and my second was done by John Stoessel (before I acquired it).
Loctite = Farse and should never be taken seriously... Neither should the engineer that ever recommended that PR ploy...
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You forget all that Hollywood goes through or Monster Truck Rally's!
I suspect it wasn't the engineer's decision, but was made by him or her in order to keep their job.
stephen newberg
SHO Member
I am sure you are right that no mechanical engineer suggested using Loktite for the cam sprockets. That was just the Ford compliance people trying to put off the problem rather than address it.
pax, smn
pax, smn
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