Newbie

[motomurph]

Alright. I know this has been asked before but..... I just bought a 72K '98 and am about to embark on the cam weld journey. What are the required gaskets and can I still buy oem ford from the dealership?
Also, it seems that the preferred way of welding the slaves is MIG. What about TIG? Seems to me TIG would be the way to go???
I was referred to the SHOshop for parts but soom learned the don't sell them anymore.
Any direction on this would be greatly appreciated. This car has been in the family since new and I am very stoked to FINALLY own it! Now to get those cams welded before I have a SHO with a 3.0L/ Vulcan in it! Thanks again for any help.

 

[platoribs]

Sounds like your planning on doing this service for yourself, yes?

There are a few folks who will do this and some other general maintenance while doing the cams FWIW.

I don't believe I've ever read a write up on the proceedure, but best of luck all the same.

 

[Izzmo]

Welding the cams is not that hard and doing TIG is the best way (if you know what you are doing and are good at welding).

Just tear down the intake (UIM), the LIM is not necessary unless you want to clean it, in which case I would.

Once the intake is off, unbolt the wiring harness enough so it is out of the way of the valve covers. Then take the vale covers off.

Once that's done, you are free to start welding. Basically you just need 3 or 4 spot welds around each of the 4 cams at the sprocket.

One thing to note is that if the sprockets are not in the correct position, do not weld them that way. If they are not, you will need to release the chain tensioners and slide them into place and then put the chain tensioners back on. To see if it is in the right place just make sure the chain is as straight as you can get it.

Clean everything out while you have it all taken apart. Brake cleaner works good.

put it all back together and you should be good to go.

As for gaskets.. well good and some bad news.

Hopefully your gaskets aren't in too bad of shape. Ford does not make/sell them anymore (you might get lucky and find one in their warehouse.. but you would be hard pressed). So, if your gaskets are not in too bad of shape (metal ones) then you can just repaint them, and while they are still wet, put them back on (credit: Paul Nimz).

For the rubber valve cover gaskets, they are reusable IF they are not broken in any place! They might be hard, but with a few quick baths you can get them like new. Search the V8 section for "valve cover gaskets" and Paul Nimz (SHOZ123) should have a post about reconditioning them.

 

[motomurph]

Thanks for the info guys. That is discouraging about the gaskets. I guess the ten year "obsolete" rule applies here. I'll do some scrounging and if not I will definitely follow your advise on the reconditioning. Thanks again!

 

[rubydist]

When you go to do the welding, please be aware that the cam "shaft" itself is actually a hollow tube, so you will need to be careful not to blow a hole through that tube....

 

[Izzmo]

^ good point although with TIG.. I don't think you would have too much of a problem with.

 

[motomurph]

Actually the TIG portion of this project is the easy part( 'cause I won't be doing it!) My coworker is handling the welding and he is truly a surgeon when it comes to his craft.
The "obsolete part" thing has me concerned. I've found the two cam cover gaskets F6DZ-6584-CA & BA. Also found the 'center" round one(not the spark plug ones,no luck on those.) Also found the lower and upper intake gaskets F6DZ-9439-A& B.
My main concern with this car is that I won't be able to get parts much longer. Are parts in general becoming scarce or is it just the 3.4L parts?
I'd like to know if I can still buy SHO specific suspension, cooling, steering(ZF-yikes!) parts new?
Can't believe I've waited this long to buy this specific car and now have to worry about parts! Thanks again for the posts.

 

[Izzmo]

ZF rack.. not new but pretty good condition. A fellow member is selling one: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?p=1048954

Also.. like I said in my previous post, you DO NOT need to buy new valve cover gaskets. Just put them in a liquid bath to get the carbon out of them, and they will be good as new.

As for suspension, just do a quick search of the V8 section here on the forums and you will find plenty of topics about it.

 

[SHOZ123]

I've reused the gasket many times, just be careful with them when disassembling. You can get rebuilt ZF racks. The SARC struts are very hard to get and expensive. Might as well go to the Gen 2 Konis in Gen 3 housings. Works great and about the same price as OEM. Some use the '99 SHO struts or the G4 but I have no experience with either.

Get an addition ATX cooler for sure. The engine cooling is not normally a problem other than the OEM black toped tanks. These will crack on the bottom and leak. The OEM coils are garbage. Get 4 new ones for the back at a parts store and install them after the cam weld. Save the back ones to play with the fronts when/if they go bad.

 

[motomurph]

Hey guys. Well I finally went to pick up my SHO this week. I trailered it the hour and a half back home to avoid any cam failure. Did start it up and to listen for the "tick of doom." Everything was quiet. Do have to share a SHO moment with you folks. Pulling the car home I glanced over to the southbound lane and there was a black Gen III being towed the other way! The driver of that Super Duty did a double take at my white "97(thought it was a '98) at the same time! Just thought that was a pretty cool coincidence. Not that many running around to begin with. Couldn't help but wonder if his was coming or going to get welded or if he bought a failed car. It has taken my parts guy a week to scrounge all the gaskets needed for the teardown but we now have them. Now I just need the time to do it properly. Until then it will sit in the garage. I'll report back with progress. Again, this site has helped tremendously.

 

[Pro*banshee]

The thanks is for using the search function. All of the topics you spoke of can ONLY BE FOUND through searching, which you clearly did since the post I thanked is only #4 of yours! I wish I could double thank, but welcome to the forums!