Both are a good way to resolve the problem. But I dont think ANYONE (not directed at any one shop) has done the research to use the correct strength pins. The shaft and sprocket are 2 different RC hardnesses, if the pin is too soft its doing nothing, if its to hard it will oblong the shaft and fall out, causing MORE damage to the shaft/sprocket assmbly.
Nobody that is presently PINNING can tell me the Hardness of the pin that they are useing, So I feel because they dont speak up that they are unsure of it - And that scares me.
Pinning needs to be done outside the car, the cams must be removed which hide costs untill its time to reinstall. You need 3 different gaskets about 25.00 total, and you must pay your favorite mechanic about 30hrs in labor for the teardown and reassembly. Somewhere its stated that its 12 hrs to R and R the cams. That too is BS when FORD themselvs do not have a listing for it in the car. The do list a few things but that is after droping the entire Motor and tranny on the ground. Now this doesnt have to happen to send out your cams, but most shops after looking at the book will OPT to. It can be done in the car (I did a head swap in the car) but is was a royal pain.
So if you can loose the car for a MIN of a week for pinning and dont mine paying about 1000.00 give or take for labor + fluids and have the FORD timing tools specific for the V8SHO pinning is OK. But you still have a car with XXXXX miles on it and no tuneup.
Sam, thanks for the good words but FPS has seen about 75 cars to my mealisy 40 cars. So I would say they are the leaders by far. They created the procedure that several shops follow, some just do more than weld the cams. Id say that Im number 2 (no cracks!!!) but with 27 scheduled and the Tulsa trip see me in another month
Like I said either way is ok for now, nothing is really tested for normal everyday use and longetivity, The present tests that are being used to determin the length of time the cams will operate are BOGUS. running a tottal of 4 cams for these tests are not proof - if they ever happened. We only have one persons word to go on, and if they are true Ford will never let the results out of thier hands.
They way I look at is this way:
(again this is not to **** pinning, or directed at anyone person,place or thing)
Pinning will get you (cant find the real numbers) so going from what I remember)
4 Million miles, at 500 for pinning and a Minimum of 1000 in labor if you cant do it yourself, also a Min of a week down time and 25 or so in gaskets plus your favorite oil.
Welding goes 1.3 million miles, for a cost of about 500.00 in and out in most cases same day and its over. Some do more than just weld the cams so expect a little more for some expected maintience items. (same items should be done either way)
So most bang for the buck (which matters to all of us) is welding, and welding by a properly certified welder, and good equiptment. You dont want the same setting used that was just used to hang a muffler. Because of voltage variations and temp variations a test peice should be on hand for every single job before its started to test on. Also for 1.3 million miles which no one here will ever surpass you will need 13 transmissions. To get to the 4 million mark you will need 400 transmissions.
SPEND YOUR MONEY WISELY!
AND (dam Im long winded tonight) if that dont get my point across, here is some more data for people thinking of getting your cams welded or pinned, this is unbiased data no me telling you whats better and not the Pinners telling you whats better but actual data.
Copied from a post from Doug Lee (thanks Doug!!)
"Not that anyone really cares, but here's my two cents... I have put this situation into some finite element software. For those who don't know what finite element analysis (FEA) is, it's a means to analyze where stress concentrations are. This is denoted by color changing areas on the graphical output. A red area means high stress concentrations are at that point, and failure is definitely within the realm of possibility. Although both means of fixing the gear to the shaft are viable, I see two things in the graphs. With the pin option, a high stress concentration area occurs right where the hole would be drilled. Stress risers occur when there are holes in material, and thus the explanation of the red areas. Looking at the welded output, no stress risers occur here. This is because no metal has been removed, and thus why the red area is not shown anymore. The heat affected zone (HAZ) will occur near the weld, and actually hot work the metal. Thinking logically about these two options... pinning removes metal, whereas welding adds metal. I believe the welded option, when done properly, is the best way to fix this problem. My opinion is backed up by the FEA analysis. You make the decision."
